53d  Congress,  )  HOUSE  OF  EEPKE  SENT  ATI  VE  S.      (  Report 
2d  Session.     ]  \  No.  913. 


SHIP  CANAL  EEOM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  THE  NAVIGA- 
BLE WATERS  OF  THE  HUDSON  RIVER. 


May  17,  1894.— Committed  to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  on  the  state  of  the 
Union  and  ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  Chickering,  from  the  Committee  on  Railways  and  Canals,  sub- 
mitted the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  H.  R.  4476.] 

The  Committee  on  Railways  and  Canals,  to  which  was  referred  the 
bill  (H.  R.  4476)  for  ascertaining  the  feasibility  and  probable  cost  of 
constructing  a  ship  canal  from  the  Great  Lakes  to  the  navigable  waters 
of  the  Hudson  River,  having  had  the  same  under  consideration,  report 
the  same  back  with  the  recommendation  that  it  do  pass  with  the  fol- 
lowing amendment: 

In  line  10  strike  out  the  words  "one  hundred"  and  insert  in  lieu 
thereof  th£  word  " fifty." 

This  committee  finds  that  the  bill  is  identical  with  H.  R.  283  of  the 
Fifty-second  Congress,  which  was  favorably  reported  by  the  Commit- 
tee on  Railways  and  Canals.  A  full  and  exhaustive  report  was  then 
made,  which  your  committee  presents  herewith  as  a  part  of  its  report 


2        SHIP  CANAL  FKOM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  KIVEB. 

DURS1  ' 


House  Report  No.  1023,  Fifty-second  Congress,  first  session. 

Mr.  Bentley,  from  the  Committee  on  Railways  and  Canals,  submitted 

the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  H.  R.  283.] 

The  Committee  on  Railways  and  Canals,  to  which  was  referred  the 
bill  (H.  R.  283)  for  ascertaining  the  feasibility  and  probable  cost  of 
constructing  a  ship  canal  from  the  Great  Lakes  to  the  navigable  wa- 
ters of  the  Hudson  River,  having  had  the  same  under  consideration, 
report  the  same  back  with  the  recommendation  that  it  do  pass. 

The  bill  directs  the  Secretary  of  War  to  cause  to  be  made  accurate 
surveys,  examinations,  and  final  estimates  of  cost  of  construction  of  a 
ship  canal  by  the  most  practicable  route,  wholly  within  the  territory  of 
the  United  States,  from  the  Great  Lakes  to  the  navigable  waters  of 
the  Hudson  River,  of  sufficient  capacity  to  transport  the  tonnage  of  the 
lakes  to  the  sea,  and  appropriates  the  sum  of  $100,000,  or  so  much 
thereof  as  may  be  necessary,  to  defray  the  expense  of  such  surveys  and 
estimates. 

One  hundred  and  fifty  miles  northwest  of  Duluth  and  Superior  are 
the  fountains  of  three  of  the  great  drainage  systems  of  the  American 
Continent.  From  there  the  flowing  waters  are  sent  northward  to  the 
ocean  through  Hudson  Bay;  southward  to  the  ocean  through  the 
Mississippi  Valley  and  the  Gulf,  and  eastward  to  the  ocean  through  the 
Great  Lakes  and  the  St.  Lawrence. 

For  commercial  purposes  the  northern  drainage  system  is  impracti- 
cable and  useless;  but  flowing  water  is  now,  and  forever  will  be,  the 
potential  agency  of  commerce  southward  and  eastward  between  the 
interior  and  the  Atlantic  coast. 

The  Great  Lakes  contain  more  than  one-half  the  area  of  the  fresh 
water  of  the  globe.  They  make  up  the  world's  largest  system  of  deep- 
water  inland  navigation. 

Embracing  nearly  100,000  square  miles  of  connected  waters,  with  a 
general  direction  east  and  west,  between  the  forty-first  and  forty-seventh 
parallels,  they  penetrate  from  tide  water  on  the  St.  Lawrence  and  (in- 
cluding the  Erie  Canal)  from  tide  water  at  New  York  1,400  miles  into 
the  heart  of  the  continent.  The  head  of  Lake  Superior  and  the  St. 
Lawrence  tide  water  are  on  the  northernmost  parallel,  Chicago  and  New 
York  on  the  southern.  The  western  extremity  of  the  system  is  1,700 
miles  only  from  the  waters  on  the  Pacific.  The  range  of  this  water 
system,  it  will  be  observed,  is  entirely  within  the  limits  of  the  north 
temperate  zone,  on  the  line  on  which  population  most  freely  moves 


SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER. 


3 


westward,  and  where  final  settlement  is  most  compact  and  where  the 
climatic  conditions  insure  the  largest  returns  to  capital  and  labor. 
For  one-half  the  distance  between  the  two  oceans  these  waters  divide 
the  Dominion  from  the  Great  Republic.  Eight  States,  with  a  population 
of  26,000,000  people,  border  on  these  lakes,  and  more  than  6,000,000 
people  in  the  AVest  and  Northwest  besides  largely  depend  upon  them. 

Kansas,  Nebraska,  Colorado,  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  the  Da- 
kotas,  Wyoming,  Montana,  and  the  northwest  Canadian  provinces,  by 
means  of  their  railway  connections,  are  largely  tributary  to  these  waters. 

The  traffic  of  these  Great  Lakes  is  simply  amazing.  Through  the 
Sault  Canal,  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Superior,  there  passed  in  1890 10,557 
vessels,  having  a  net  registered  tonnage  of  8,454,435  tons.  The  actual 
freight  tonnage  was  9,041,213  tons,  but  the  registered  tonnage  is  used 
for  the  purpose  of  comparison.  Through  the  Suez  Canal  there  passed 
during  the  same  year  3,389  vessels,  having  a  net  registered  tonnage 
of  6,890,014  tons,  so  that  nearly  three  times  as  many  vessels  and  over 

I,  500,000  tons  more  of  freight  passed  through  the  Sault  Canal,  away 
in  the  center  of  the  continent,  than  passed  through  the  Suez  Canal, 
which  is  an  international  work  and  a  highway  for  the  commerce  of  the 
world,  And  it  should  be  remembered,  too,  that  the  Sault  Canal  was 
open  but  two  hundred  and  twenty-eight  days  for  navigation  and  the 
Suez  Canal  was  open,  of  course,  during  the  entire  year.  And  this 
represents  the  business  of  Lake  Superior  alone. 

The  entries  and  clearances  in  New  York  in  1889  represented 

II,  051,236  tons,  and  the  entries  and  clearances  in  all  the  seaports  in 
the  United  States  represented  26,983,315  tons.  The  entries  and  clear- 
ances from  London  and  Liverpool  during  that  year  were  33,430,617 
tons.  The#entries  and  clearances  on  the  Great  Lakes  in  the  same  year 
were,  according  to  the  United  States  census,  27,700,000  tons;  and  in 
1890  the  total  freight  traffic  of  the  Great  Lakes  was  33,303,324  tons, 
exceeding  by  6,000,000  the  combined  entries  and  clearances  of  all  the 
seaports  of  the  United  States,  Atlantic,  Gulf,  and  Pacific,  and  equaling 
the  combined  entries  and  clearances,  both  coastwise  and  foreign,  ot 
London  and  Liverpool,  the  great  commercial  centers  of  the  world. 

These  shipments  embraced  9,000,000  tons  of  iron  ore,  5,000,000  tons 
of  grain  and  flour,  8,000,000  tons  of  lumber  and  forest  products,  7,000,000 
tons  of  coal,  and  4,500,000  tons  of  miscellaneous  freight.  This  was  car- 
ried by  a  floating  equipment  of  2,784  vessels,  having  a  carrying  capacity 
of  1,254,275  tons,  and  a  commercial  value  of  648,809,750. 

Of  the  total  tonnage  of  shipping  built  in  the  United  States  during 
the  year  ending  June  30,  1889,  5  per  cent  was  built  on  the  Western 
rivers,  8  per  cent  was  built  on  the  Pacific  coast,  41  per  cent  on  the  At- 
lantic coast,  and  46  per  cent  was  built  on  the  Great  Lakes. 

The  -ton  mileage  of  the  Lake  marine  for  the  season  of  1889  was  15,518,- 
360,000 ;  and  in  1890  it  amounted  to  18,849,681,384.  The  ton  mileage  of 
all  the  railways  in  the  United  States  for  1889  was  68,727,223,146.  It  is 
thus  seen  that  the  ton  mileage  of  the  Lake  marine  is  more  than  one- 
fourth  that  of  all  the  railways  in  the  United  States.  The  average  rate 
of  charges  for  freight  received  by  all  the  railways  of  the  United  States 
for  the  year  1890  was  9  mills  per  ton  mile  and  at  that  rate  the  trans- 
portation by  rail  of  the  Lake  cargoes  would  have  cost  8169,647,132. 

The  average  rate  on  all  freights  carried  upon  the  Great  Lakes  is  not 
over  1.2  mills  per  ton  mile,  making  the  total  cost  of  water  transporta- 
tion $22,619,617.66  equal  to  an  economy  over  the  cost  of  transporting 
the  same  freight  by  rail  of  $147,027,514. 

Mr.  S.  A.  Thompson,  secretary  of  the  Duluth  Chamber  of  Commerce, 


4        SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER. 


who  has  given  profound  study  to  the  subject,  and  to  whom  indebted- 
ness is  acknowledged  for  many  facts  and  expressions  of  thought,  says : 

Careful  experiments,  conducted  *»f  a  long  period  on  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway, 
showed  the  actual  cost  of  moving  freight,  exclusive  of  fixed  charges,  to  be  0.5  cent 
per  ton  per  mile.  The  average  cost  on  all  the  roads  reporting  to  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1890,  was  nearly  20  per 
cent  greater,  being  .593  cent  per  ton  per  mile,  while  the  lowest  cost  I  have  been 
able  to  find  on  record  is  in  the  case  of  the  Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern, 
which  has  been  able  in  exceptionally  favorable  years  to  report  a  cost  as  low  as  0.4 
cent  per  ton  per  mile.  On  the  Erie  Canal  the  cost  is  only  half  as  much  as  the  least 
cost  reported  for  rail  transportation,  being  2  mills  per  ton  per  mile.  On  some  of 
the  Belgian  canals,  where  steam  towage  is  used,  the  cost  has  been  reduced  to  1£ 
mills,  while  on  the  Aire  and  Calder  Canal,  in  England,  General  Manager  Bartholo- 
mew, who  seems  to  be  the  greatest  genius  in  canal  management  which  the  world  has 
yet  produced,  reports  that  he  has  been  able  to  reduce  the  cost  of  transporting  min- 
erals to  0.024  cent  per  ton  per  mile,  and  for  general  merchandise  to  0.068  cent,  the 
average  being  0.064,  and  the  cost  of  returning  the  empties  being  included  in  each 
case. 

The  figures  grow  more  and  more  interesting  as  we  go  on,  and  when  we  turn  to  the 
Great  Lakes,  where  we  have  deeper  water,  we  find  results  which  are  almost  startling. 
*  *  *  The  lake  boats  carry  2,700  tons  of  freight  on  the  present  depth  of  water  at  the 
Sault,  make  the  run  from  Duluth  to  Buffalo  in  three  days  and  a  half,  and  cost  on  an 
average  of  $120  per  day.  Calling  the  distance  from  Duluth  to  Buffalo  1,000  miles,  and 
we  find  these  figures  are  equivalent  to  0.015  cent  per  ton  per  mile,  only  one  twenty- 
sixth  the  cost  on  the  Lake  Shore  road.  Or,  to  express  the  same  fact  in  terms  which 
will  be  better  understood  by  the  ordinary  business  man,  it  costs  $26  on  the  most 
favorably  situated  railroad  in  the  United  States  to  do  what  is  done  on  the  Great 
Lakes  for  $1.  These  figures,  and  hundreds  more  like  them  which  could  be  given  if 
necessary,  prove  conclusively  to  my  mind  that  it  is  utterly  impossible  for  the  rail- 
way to  compete  on  even  terms  with  the  water  way  for  the  carriage  of  bulk  freights, 
and,  second,  that  the  greater  the  depth  of  the  water  way  and  the  greater  the  carry- 
ing capacity  of  the  canal  boat  or  vessel  the  less  is  the  cost  of  transportation. 

Within  the  past  two  years  a  revolution  in  methods  of  transportation 
of  grain  by  water  has  been  effected  by  means  of  the  "whaleback" 
vessels,  arising  from  lessened  cost  of  construction,  reduced  expense  ot 
maintaining  and  operating,  largely  decreased  consumption  of  coal,  and 
having  capacity  for  carrying  much  larger  cargoes  of  grain. 

One  of  the  "whaleback"  steamers,  with  two  barges  in  tow,  went 
through  from  Duluth  to  Kingston  this  last  season,  unloading  at  that 
point  onto  barges  that  carried  the  grain  as  usual  through  the  St.  Law- 
rence canals  to  Montreal,  and  the  total  rate  from  Duluth  to  Montreal 
was  5 J  cents  per  bushel.  The  "whaleback"  steamer  went,  without 
cargo,  through  the  St.  Lawrence  rapids  in  all  places  where  the  canals 
are  incompleted;  and  where  these  are  completed  of  the  dimensions  at 
present  projected  by  the  Dominion  Government,  she  passed  through 
them  to  Montreal,  took  her  cargo  on  once  more,  and  carried  from  Mon- 
treal to  Liverpool  about  90,000  bushels  of  wheat. 

An  obvious  advantage  of  such  a  vessel  is  that  when  loaded  with  such 
a  cargo  she  drew  less  water  than  an  ordinary  vessel  capable  of  carry- 
ing such  a  cargo  would  draw  without  any  load. 

With  a  canal  from  the  Lakes  to  the  Hudson,  of  sufficient  capacity  so 
that  these  vessels  could  pass  through  without  breaking  bulk,  the  cost 
of  carrying  wheat  from  the  head  of  Lake  Superior  to  the  city  of  New 
York  will  be  less  than  5  cents  per  bushel. 

This  economy  in  transportation  affords  an  increase  in  the  price  of  the 
products  of  the  soil  to  the  farmers  of  the  great  Northwest.  It  brings 
to  the  people  in  the  densely  populated  manufacturing  districts  of  the 
East  cheaper  breadstuff's.  It  gives  living  wages  to  the  miners  of  Lake 
Superior  and  reduces  the  cost  of  manufactured  iron.  It  fosters  the 
great  shipbuilding  industry  in  the  cities  bordering  on  the  Great  Lakes, 
an  industry  which,  within  the  past  ten  years,  has  changed  a  modest 


SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER. 


5 


fleet  of  small  wooden  schooners  to  a  magnificent  squadron  of  steel  steam- 
ships, fit  to  circumnavigate  the  globe,  designed  by  American  architects, 
built  by  American  capital  and  American  workmen,  manned  by  Ameri- 
can sailors,  owned  and  operated  by  American  citizens,  and  carrying 
the  products  of  American  soil  and  American  industry. 

On  the  day  that  it  becomes  possible  to  send  ships  direct  from  the 
Great  Lakes  to  the  ocean  by  way  of  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  while  they 
are  unable  to  go  from  the  Great  Lakes  to  the  ocean  by  the  way  of  the  Hud- 
son River,  the  sceptre  of  commercial  supremacy  in  the  Western  Conti- 
nent will  begin  to  pass  from  ]Sew  York  to  Montreal,  and  the  merchant 
marine  of  the  United  States,  which  has  had  a  new  birth  on  the  Great 
Lakes,  will  receive  its  death  blow  from  Canadian  competition. 

It  is  not  a  question  whether  the  products  of  the  West  and  Northwest 
shall  go  by  way  of  the  Erie  Canal  or  by  rail  from  Buffalo  to  New  York 
or  not  go  at  all,  but  whether  the  transportation  of  these  products  shall 
be  retained  in  American  hands  on  American  soil  and  reach  an  Ameri- 
can seaport  or  whether  it  shall  be  surrendered  to  Canada. 

Who  shall  control  the  resistless  tide  of  this  expanding  commerce 
which  demands  an  outlet  to  the  sea? 

When  the  Great  Lakes  have  a  connection  with  the  ocean  through  Can- 
adian soil  the  cities  on  the  lakes  will  become  seaports  for  Canadian 
vessels,  while  American  vessels  have  no  means  of  reaching  them.  This 
means  that  every  bushel  of  grain  and  every  barrel  of  pork  for  export 
from  the  great  West  will  be  taken  by  Canadian  vessels  from  Chicago, 
Milwaukee,  or  Duluth  either  direct  to  Liverpool  or  for  transshipment 
at  Montreal.  It  would  necessarily  take  this  route  because  the  Erie 
Canal  could  afford  no  competition  against  14  feet  depth  of  water  of  the 
Welland  and  St.  Lawrence  canals.  Breadstuff's  and  provisions  consti- 
tute so  large  a  percentage  of  our  entire  exports  that  the  vessels  carry- 
ing these  mu&  necessarily  be  the  ones  to  return  our  imports  in. 

The  supremacy  of  England  rests  not  so  much  in  the  fighting  strength 
of  her  navy  or  her  enormous  accumulation  of  capital  as  on  the  fact 
that  her  capital  has  been  directed  to  securing  the  carrying  trade  of  the 
world  and  that  her  naval  strength  has  been  used  to  protect  her  com- 
merce. What  England  has  done  for  the  world  at  large  Canada  is  en- 
deavoring to  do  for  this  continent.  In  proportion  to  her  population 
and  resources,  the  expenditures  of  the  Dominion  in  developing  both 
rail  and  water  ways  have  been  enormously  greater  than  those  of  the 
United  States.  With  less  than  one-twelfth  of  our  population,  in  a  less 
favorable  climate,  and  with  natural  resources  far  inferior  to  ours,  she 
has  fearlessly  grasped  her  great  and  difficult  transportation  problem. 
On  her  water  ways  she  has  expended,  largely  on  this  lake  system  and 
the  St.  Lawrence,  $54,596,180.  She  has  built  and  equipped  1,217  miles 
of  railway  at  a  cost  of  854,557,579.  With  12,628  miles  of  railway  in 
operation,  the  government  has  given  to  railways  in — 


Bonuses   $13.",.  894,  304 

Loans   21.  201,  314 

Provincial  government   24.036,307 

Municipalities   13,  461,  224 


194,  593. 149 

In  all  for  railways   246, 150,  728 

In  all,  railways  and  canals   300,  746,  917 


In  England  $60,000,000  are  now  being  expended  to  connect  one  city 
with  the  sea,  Manchester  and  Liverpool. 
Germany,  in  1887,  ordered  the  construction  of  more  than  1,000  miles 


6        SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER. 


of  new  canal  navigation  in  addition  to  the  1,289  miles  then  operated 
and  the  4,925  miles  of  then  available  navigable  rivers. 

France  has  expended  since  1814  npon  the  improvement  of  her  har- 
bors and  water  ways  more  than  $650,000,000,  in  addition  to  $700,000,000 
out  of  the  state  treasury  for  railways.  She  has  7,500  miles  of  canal  and 
river  navigation  and  the  completest  transportation  facilities  of  any  na- 
tion in  the  world.  She  commenced  building  canals  a  hundred  years  be- 
fore the  Christian  era,  when  Marius  caused  his  soldiers  to  excavate 
from  the  Ehone  to  the  sea  a  canal  that  long  bore  his  name  and  to  which 
the  city  of  Aries  chiefly  owed  its  splendor. 

The  total  appropriations  of  the  XJnited  States  Government  for  rivers 
and  harbors  have  been  $204,137,649.  They  began  in  Jefferson's  admin- 
istration, 1800,  with  $25,000,  in  the  State  of  Louisiana.  The  sum  of 
$14,699,745  was  expended  previous  to  1860.  Between  1860  and  1870 
the  amount  was  $12,789,182;  between  1870  and  1880,  $68,035,656 ;  be- 
1880  and  1890,  inclusive,  $108,613,066,  or  only  $204,000,000  in  a  cen- 
tury for  great  objects  of  national  development.  Of  this  total  amount 
$28,417,182  only  have  been  expended  within  the  great  States  bordering 
on  this  lake  system  and  for  its  improvement. 

In  relation  to  this  portion,  at  least,  of  the  total  appropriations  for 
rivers  and  harbors  since  our  national  life  began  it  may  safely  be  as- 
serted that  the  expenditure  for  public  purposes  of  no  equivalent  sum 
elsewhere  on  American  soil  has  ever  resulted  in  so  large  and  so  equi- 
tably distributed  advantages  to  the  American  people. 

The  development  of  the  water  ways  should  be  made,  not  only  because 
the  water  way  furnishes  the  cheapest  possible  form  of  transportation, 
but  because  it  is  also  the  most  powerful  possible  regulator  of  railway 
rates.  On  roads  subject  to  water  competition  freight  rates  invariably 
go  up  when  navigation  closes  in  the  fall,  and  go  down  again  when 
navigation  reopens  in  the  spring. 

The  last  annual  report  of  the  collector  of  customs  of  the  port  of 
Buffalo  shows  that  at  the  close  of  canal  navigation  in  the  fall  of  1891 
there  were  10,000,000  bushels  of  grain  at  that  port  awaiting  shipment 
east  to  be  forwarded  by  rail. 

The  average  freight  rate  on  grain  from  Buffalo  to  New  York  by  canal 
during  the  season  of  navigation  was  4|  cents  a  bushel,  and  just  before 
the  close  it  was  but  3£  cents.  During  navigation  the  rate  by  rail  was 
kept  down  to  that  by  canal,  but  within  a  day  after  the  last  canal  boat 
had  cleared  the  rail  rate  was  advanced  to  7 J  cents  a  bushel,  an  increase 
of  4  cents.  That  meant  that  the  Eastern  consumers  must  pay  $400,000 
more  than  would  have  been  charged  them  had  the  grain  gone  all  the 
way  to  New  York  by  water. 

A  very  carefully  prepared  table  shows  that  the  average  freight  rate 
on  grain  by  lake  from  Chicago  and  Duluth  to  Buffalo  during  the  past 
season  was  about  4  cents  a  bushel,  3 J  cents  less  than  the  railroads 
wanted  for  carrying  grain  one-third  of  the  distance,  or  from  Buffalo  to 
New  York. 

It  should  be  noted  also  that  the  influence  of  water  competition  is 
not  confined  to  the  roads  which  lie  close  along  the  water  way.  Mr.  Al- 
bert Fink,  the  railroad  commissioner,  used  the  following  words  in  1878,in 
a  letter  addressed  to  Hon.  William  Windom,  who  was  at  that  time  chair- 
man of  the  Senate  committee  on  transportation  routes  to  the  seaboard : 

You  are  aware  that  when  the  rates  are  reduced  between  Chicago  and  New  York 
on  account  of  the  opening  of  the  canal,  this  reduction  applies  not  only  to  Chicago, 
"but  to  all  interior  cities  (St.  Louis,  Indianapolis,  Cincinnati),  to  New  York.  If  that 
was  not  the  rule  the  result  would  be  that  the  roads  running,  say,  from  St.  LouiS; 


SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER. 


7 


Indianapolis,  and  Cincinnati,  to  Chicago,  would  carry  the  freight  to  Chicago,  from 
which  point  low  rates  would  take  it  to  the  East  and  leave  the  direct  road  from  the 
interior  points  to  the  seaboard  without  business.  Hence,  whenever  the  rates  are 
reduced  on  account  of  tho  opening  of  navigation  from  Chicago  and  lake  ports,  the 
same  reduction  is  made  to  all  interior  cities,  not  only  to  New  York,  where  the  canal 
runs,  but  to  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore.  Although  the  latter  cities  have  no  direct 
water-route  communication  with  the  West,  yet  they  receive  the  beneiit,  as  far  as 
railroad  rates  are  concerned,  the  same  as  if  a  canal  were  running  from  the  lakes 
direct  to  the  cities,  because  whenever  rates  from  Chicago  to  New  York  are  reduced 
it  is  necessary  to  reduce  the  rates  from  Chicago  to  Boston,  Philadelphia,  and  Balti- 
more; otherwise  the  business  would  all  go  to  New  York. 

The  reduction  of  the  rates  from  Chicago  and  St.  Louis  to  Baltimore  causes  a  reduc- 
tion in  rates  on  shipments  via  Baltimore  to  Atlantic  ports — Norfolk,  Wilmington, 
Savannah,  Brunswick,  and  Fernandina,  and  from  there  into  the  interior  of  the  Gulf 
States — Augusta,  Atlanta,  Macon,  Montgomery,  Selma,  etc.  *  *  *  These  roads 
*  *  *  are  obliged  to  follow  the  reductions  made  via  the  Baltimore  road,  and 
which  were  principally  made  on  account  of  the  existence  of  the  Erie  Canal  and  the 
opening  of  navigation.  The  same  way'in  regard  to  the  west-bound  business,  *  *  * 
so  that  it  may  be  said  that  the  rail  rates  are  kept  in  check  by  water  transportation. 

Nor  is  water  competition  confined  in  its  effect  entirely  to  the  season 
of  navigation.  The  same  authority  last  quoted  testified  before  the 
Senate  Committee  on  Interstate  Commerce  that,  at  least  so  far  as  grain 
rates  are  concerned,  that  influence  extends  throughout  the  winter. 
"For,"  said  he,  "if  the  rail  rates  are  made  too  high,  the  grain  is  simply 
stored  to  await  the  drop  in  rates  which  is  certain  to  come  when  navi- 
gation is  opened."' 

It  is  wonderful  to  see  in  how  many  different  directions  and  to  what 
a  distance  the  influence  of  the  water  way  extends.  We  have  seen  that 
it  not  only  gives  the  cheapest  form  of  transx)ortation,  but  that  it  exerts 
a  powerful  influence  on  the  railways  which  parallel  the  water  route, 
whether  close  by  or  hundreds  of  miles  away,  and  that  this  influence  is 
felt  even  during  the  time  when  the  water  way  is  frozen  up.  And  even 
this  is  not  alf.  The  beneficial  effect  of  the  water  way  extends  also  to 
the  interior  of  the  country,  which  is  reached  only  by  railway  lines  which 
terminate  upon  the  water  way  and  make  a  through  line  for  the  trans- 
portation of  freight  in  connection  therewith.  At  the  same  time  all  the 
experience  of  the  past  proves  that  the  development  of  the  water  ways 
is  not  an  injury  but  a  benefit  to  the  railway  business. 

The  New  York  Central  and  Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  Kail- 
ways,  considered  as  one,  lie  close  alongside  a  water  way  almost  every 
mile  of  the  distance  from  New  York  to  Chicago,  and  there  is  no  other 
railway  in  the  United  States  which  has  been  compelled  to  build  four 
tracks  to  accommodate  its  business  as  the  New  York  Central  has.  In 
Germany,  the  year  following  the  great  improvement  in  the  river 
Rhine,  the  traffic  of  the  river  increased  30  per  cent,  while  the  traffic  of 
the  railway  along  its  banks  increased  60  per  cent.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  two  systems  of  transportation,  rail  and  water,  are  not  antagonistic, 
but  complementary  each  to  the  other. 

A  great  misconception  has  existed  in  the  minds  of  many  as  to  the 
agricultural  possibilities  of  the  Canadian  northwest.  The  lact  is  that 
the  very  finest  wheat  is  grown  in  the  Peace  Eiver  Yalley,  1,500  miles 
northwest  of  Dulutb,  and  there  are  millions  of  acres  of  land  on  which 
the  finest  small  grains  in  the  world  can  be  grown  in  the  Canadian  north- 
west, and  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  the  wheat  growers  of  Kansas 
and  Nebraska  and  the  Dakotas  must  meet  Canadian  competition  in 
supplying  with  wheat  the  markets  of  the  world. 

If,  when  the  time  comes,  the  Canadian  farmers  can  send  their  wheat 
500  miles  by  rail  to  Lake  Superior,  breaking  bulk  but  once  between  the 
farm  wagon  and  the  Liverpool  docks,  while  the  farmer  of  Kansas  and 
H.  Rep.  3  21 


8 


SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER. 


Nebraska  must  send  his  wheat  1,200  or  1,500  miles  to  reach  the  ocean 
vessels,  there  can  be  no  question  as  to  who  will  win  in  such  an  unequal 
competition.  It  is  not  only  the  proper  policy,  but  it  is  one  of  the  highest 
duties  of  our  Government  to  see  to  it  that  the  farmers  of  the  United 
States  shall  have  as  cheap  transportation  for  their  products  to  the  sea- 
board and  to  the  markets  of  the  world  as  is  enjoyed  by  the  people  of 
Germany  or  France  or  Canada  or  any  other  nation  under  the  sun. 

The  Welland  Canal  and  a  portion  of  the  St.' Lawrence  Canals  have 
already  been  deepened  to  14  feet,  and  work  is  in  progress  to  bring  the 
remaining  canals  of  the  St.  Lawrence  system  to  the  same  depth.  The 
canal  through  the  St.  Clair  Flats,  and  the  magnificent  locks  of  the  Amer- 
ican Canal  at  the  Sault  are  as  free  to  Canadian  vessels  as  to  our  own, 
but  in  spite  of  this  fact  the  Dominion  is  building  a  new  canal  at  the 
Sault  on  the  Canadian  side  of  the  river.  Within  five  years  from  the 
present  time,  at  the  present  rate  of  progress,  and  within  three  years  if 
the  work  is  hastened  a  little,  there  will  be  a  clear  channel  for  vessels 
drawing  14  feet  of  water  through  Canadian  territory  all  the  way  from 
Lake  Superior  to  the  sea. 

Six  feet  of  water  in  the  Erie  Canal  and  two  transfers  of  the  freight  can  no  more 
compete  with  14  feet  of  water  through  the  Canadian  canals  and  no  transfer  than  a 
wheelbarrow  can  compete  with  an  express  train. 

The  canal  boat  carrying  200  tons,  drawn  by  mules  at  the  rate  of  4 
miles  per  hour,  can  by  no  possibility  compete  with  the  steamship  car- 
rying 2,000  tons,  propelled  by  steam  at  rate  of  14  miles  per  hour.  And 
while  the  American  farmer  has  held  his  own  fairly  well  against  the  semi- 
civilized  wheat  growers  of  India,  how  can  he  hope  to  win  in  competition 
with  men  of  the  same  race,  men  just  as  intelligent,  with  a  climate  no 
more  rigorous,  with  a  soil  at  least  as  fertile,  and  with  transportation 
facilities  immeasurably  superior?  The  great  plains  of  the  Canadian 
northwest  are  unsettled  now,  but  when  once  the  conditions  of  soil  and 
climate  which  there  exist  are  supplemented  by  facilities  for  transporta- 
tion not  surpassed,  if  equaled,  by  those  of  any  other  region,  the  Cana- 
dian northwest  will  settle  up  with  a  race  of  hardy,  intelligent,  and 
prosperous  people,  and  will  become  the  granary  of  the  world.  He  who 
can  most  cheaply  reach  the  markets  of  the  world  can  control  the  mar- 
kets of  the  world. 

It  is  not  alone  the  commercial  advantages  of  a  water  way  upon  do- 
mestic territory  from  the  Great  Lakes  to  a  domestic  seaport  that  are 
involved.  It  is  a  national  question  of  the  utmost  importance  and  in 
the  broadest  sense.  In  a  report  of  the  Military  Committee  of  the 
House,  published  in  1862,  it  is  stated  that — 

The  United  States  and  Great  Britain  are  equally  prohibited  by  treaty  stipulations 
from  building  or  keeping  afloat  a  fleet  of  war  vessels  upon  the  lakes.  At  the  same 
time,  on  the  shores  of  these  lakes  the  United  States  have  many  wealthy  cities  and 
towns,  and  unon  their  waters  an  immense  commerce;  these  are  unprotected  by  any 
defenses  worthy  of  special  notice,  but  are  as  open  to  an  incursion  as  was  Mexico 
when  invaded  by  Cortez.  A  small  fleet  of  light-draft,  heavily  armored  gunboats 
could  in  one  month,  despite  of  any  opposition  that  could  be  made  by  extemporized 
batteries,  pass  up  the  St.  Lawrence  and  shell  every  town  and  city  from  Ogdenaburg 
to  Chicago.  At  one  blow  it  could  sweep  our  commerce  from  that  entire  chain  of 
waters.  To  be  able  to  strike  a  blow  so  effective  Great  Britain  constructed  a  canal 
around  the  Falls  of  Niagara.  By  this  single  stroke  the  entire  chain  of  lakes  was 
opened  to  all  British  light-draft  ocean  vessels. 

Perceiving  our  ability  to  erect  works  upon  the  St.  Lawrence  that  might  command 
its  channel,  and  thus  neutralize  all  they  have  done,  Great  Britain  dug  a  canal  from 
the  toot  of  Lake  Ontario  on  a  line  parallel  to  the  river,  but  beyond  reach  of  Ameri- 
can guns,  to  a  point  on  the  St.  Lawrence  below,  beyond  American  jurisdiction,  thus 
securing  a  channel  to  and  from  the  lakes  out  of  oiir  reach.    Occupied  by  our  vas* 


SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER. 


9 


commercial  enterprises  and  by  violent  party  conflicts,  our  people  failed  to  notice  at 
the  time  that  the  safety  of  onr  entire  northern  frontier  has  been  destroyed  by  the 
digging  of  two  short  canals.  Near  the  head  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  British, 
to  complete  their  supremacy  on  the  lakes,  have  built  a  large  naval  depot  for 
the  construction  and  repair  of  vessels,  and  a  very  strong  fort  to  protect  the  depot 
and  the  outlets  of  the  lake,  a  fort  which  can  not  be  reduced — it  is  supposed  by  them — 
except  by  regular  approaches.  The  result  of  all  of  this  is  that  in  the  absence  of 
ships  of  war  on  the  lakes,  and  of  means  to  convey  them  there  from  the  ocean,  the 
United  States,  upon  the  breaking  out  of  war,  would,  without  navy-yards  and  suit- 
able docks,  have  to  commence  the  building  of  a  fleet  upon  Lake  Ontario  and  another 
upon  the  Upper  Lakes.  At  the  same  time,  England,  possessing  a  naval  depot  at  the 
entrance  to  this  system  of  waters,  can  forestall  us  in  all  our  attempts,  both  offensive 
and  defensive. 

Thirty  years  have  gone  by  since  these  words  were  written,  and  while 
the  size  and  importance  of  these  cities  and  the  commerce  of  these  waters 
have  amazingly  increased,  this  mighty  commerce  and  these  majestic 
cities  are  even  more  defenseless  than  they  were  then.  More  than  a 
hundred  vessels  in  the  British  navy  are  capable  of  passing  through  the 
Canadian  canals  from  the  sea  to  the  lakes. 

Canada  is  even  now  building  cruisers  which  are  a  menace  to  our  lake 
commerce. 

A  dispatch  from  Ottawa,  dated  March  6,  1892,  published  in  the  Xew 
York  Kecorder,  of  March  7,  says : 

The  Dominion  Government  is  about  to  place  three  new  cruisers  on  theUpperLakes. 
One  will  be  located  on  Lake  Superior  and  one  at  least  on  Lake  Huron. 

The  Washington  correspondent  of  the  same  paper  says : 

The  Treasury  Department  some  time  ago  made  an  official  inquiry  as  to  the  charac- 
ter of  the  three  new  revenue-cutters  now  being  built  by  Great  Britain  on  the  Cana- 
dian side  of  the  Great  Lakes.  In  an  official  report  to  the  Treasury  Department  an 
officer  of  the  Revenue-Marine  Service  states  that  the  Constance  is  the  type  of  a  number 
of  vessels  about  to  be  built. 

Her  dimensions  are :  Length,  125  feet ;  beam,  19  feet  3  inches ;  draft,  9  feet ;  engines 
of  the  single-screw,  vertical,  compound  type,  cylinders  measuring,  respectively,  18 
and  36  inches ;  stroke,  24  inches ;  battery,  three  Nordenfeldt  rapid-fire  guns. 

SHE  HAS  A  RAM. 

The  Constance  has  a  ram  bow,  and  special  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  arrange- 
ment of  her  bunkers  in  order  to  protect  the  machinery  from  smock.  Two  vessels  of 
the  Constance  type  are  now  afloat.  This  type  of  vessel  is  more  formidable  than  any 
of  the  revenue-cutters  of  the  United  States,  and  the  fact  that  England  is  building 
these  semi  warships  for  the  lake  service  has  not  escaped  official  attention. 

The  same  paper,  in  its  issue  of  March  8,  1892,  in  its  Washington  cor- 
respondence, under  date  of  March  7,  says: 

THOSE  WAR  SHIPS. 

The  character  of  the  revenue-cutters,  as  ascertained  by  the  official  investigation  con- 
ducted by  the  Treasury  Department,  is  believed  by  those  who  have  looked  into  the 
question  closely  to  be  a  violation  of  treaty  rights  to  which  the  United  States  ought 
not  to  submit  without  some  kind  of  a  protest.  Each  one  of  the  projected  revenue- 
cutters  would  be  available  in  case  of  hostilities  for  the  purposes  of  actual  warfare, 
and  would  far  outclass  any  vessels  which  would  be  at  the  disposal  of  the  United 
States  on  the  Great  Lakes. 

Their  presence  in  the  lakes  will  be  a  constant  menace,  and  as  they  are  not  needed 
for  the  legitimate  objects  of  the  revenue  service,  it  is  the  opinion  of  Representatives 
and  Senators  who  have  been  approached  upon  the  subject  to-day  that  Great  Britain 
should  be  asked  respectfully  but  firmly  to  explain  their  presence  on  the  lakes,  and 
if  that  explanation  is  not  satisfactory,  to  abandon  the  idea  of  launching  them. 

Any  action  of  the  Canadian  Government  looking  to  a  strengthening  of  its  forces  in 
that  quarter  of  the  world  just  at  the  present  time,  when  the  Bering  Sea  question  has 
reached  so  critical  a  stage,  can  not,  in  the  judgment  of  public  men  in  Washington, 
be  regarded  with  equanimity. 


10      SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER. 

With  the  resources  thus  available  to  the  British  Government,  she 
might  put  into  the  lakes  vessels  enough  to  besiege  at  one  time  every 
city  from  Ogdensburg  to  Chicago  and  Duluth,  and  sweep  the  com- 
merce of  the  United  States  from  their  waters,  unless  prevented  by  a 
destruction  of  the  Canadian  canals  by  the  United  States  in  anticipa- 
tion of  any  act  or  declaration  of  war. 

In  building  and  enlarging  the  Erie  Canal,  New  York  alone  has  ex- 
pended $50,000,000  and  given  a  free  water  communication  from  the 
lakes  through  the  Hudson  to  the  sea. 

This  has  been  one  of  the  most  potential  influences  of  American  prog- 
ress and  civilization.  It  developed  the  Northwest  by  giving  an  outlet 
to  the  commerce  of  the  Great  Lakes.  It  made  New  York  the  Empire 
State  and  her  metropolis  the  imperial  mart  of  the  New  World.  It  made 
possible  the  great  cities  of  Chicago,  Milwaukee,  Cleveland,  Toledo,  and 
Buffalo. 

When  that  famous  undertaking  was  commenced  there  was  but  one 
steamer  upon  Lake  Erie.  Huron  and  Michigan  were  known  only  to 
the  Indian  and  the  fur  traders.  Buffalo,  a  city  of  over  250,000  souls, 
was  then  a  village,  and  Chicago  and  Milwaukee  were  yet  "  in  the  womb 
of  time." 

The  whole  commerce  above  Niagara  upon  nearly  100,000  square  miles 
of  water,  with  4,000  miles  of  coast,  employed  but  forty  sail,  two  only  of 
which  exceeded  100  tons.  Yet  in  the  policy  then  inaugurated  by  New 
York's  famous  governor,  De  Witt  Clinton,  the  barriers  interposed  by 
nature  between  the  commercial  intercourse  of  central  North  America 
and  the  world  were  broken  down  and  now  the  glistening  waters  are 
bedecked  with  hundreds  of  floating  palaces  propelled  by  steam  and 
thousands  of  sailing  vessels  with  a  tonnage  exceeding  the  foreign  and 
coastwise  commerce  of  the  whole  nation. 

Contemporaneous  with  the  enlargement  of  the  Erie  Canal  began  that 
wonderful  development  of  the  railway  system  of  transportation,  which 
has  so  increased  that  the  canal,  which  has  remained  practically  un- 
changed for  thirty  years,  is  gradually  losing  its  capacity  for  usefulness 
and  its  influence  upon  the  problem  of  transportation ;  but  its  creation  and 
existence  has  demonstrated  the  possibility  of  a  union  of  the  lakes  with  the 
Hudson,  and  illustrated  the  value  and  importance  of  a  far  more  radical 
and  extensive  improvement  to  meet  the  present  and  prospective  wants 
of  the  mighty  tide  of  lake  traffic  which  demands  an  adequate  outlet  to 
the  sea. 

Whether  this  can  be  done  at  all,  or  whether  it  can  best  be  done  bv 
enlarging  the  Erie  Canal,  or  by  a  ship  canal  around  Niagara  Falls 
connecting  lakes  Erie  and  Ontario,  and  then  by  the  Oswego  and 
Mohawk  river  routes  to  the  Hudson,  or  whether  any  plan  whatever  is 
feasible,  and  if  so  what  would  be  the  probable  cost  of  such  a  work,  are 
the  important  questions  to  be  first  determined. 

Congress  after  Congress  has  been  importuned  to  make  appropriations 
for  some  part  of  the  work  which  forms  a  feature  of  the  whole  enterprise; 
to  deepen  the  channels  between  the  lakes ;  to  build  the  Niagara  ship 
canal ;  to  deepen  the  waters  of  the  upper  Hudson,  and  to  enlarge  the 
Erie  Canal.  Men  of  the  highest  standing  as  engineers,  of  the  widest 
experience  as  shippers,  men  of  the  broadest  intelligence,  have  ex- 
pressed their  views,  but  yet  so  far  as  cost  and  practicability  are  con- 
cerned they  remained  opinions  merely. 

To  determine  the  feasibility  of  constructing  a  deep  water  way  from 
the  lakes  to  the  Hudson,  its  probable  cost  and  the  sufficiency  of  an 
available  water  supply,  can  only  be  settled  by  a  detailed  and  carefully 


SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER.  11 


planned  survey.  And  such  a  survey  should  embrace  every  available 
route  which  is  wholly  within  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  in 
order  to  definitely  settle  which  is  the  best  and  most  economical. 

The  importance  of  this  measure  has  been  rer>eatedly  brought  to  the 
attention  of  Congress  by  proposed  measures  looking  to  the  building  of 
a  ship  canal  around  Niagara  Falls,  connecting  lakes  Erie  and  Ontario, 
and  the  other  project  of  direct  connection  of  Erie  with  the  Hudson 
by  way  of  an  enlargement  of  the  Erie  Canal,  avoiding  the  Ontario, 
while  still  another  project,  embracing  the  idea  of  the  Niagara  ship 
canal  and  the  enlargement  of  the  Oswego  Canal,  and  from  its  junction 
with  the  Erie  and  enlargement  of  the  latter  to  the  Hudson.  Still  an- 
other, and  apparently  the  most  feasible  plan,  is  that  of  including  the 
Niagara  ship  canal  and  a  new  canal  from  Oswego,  which  shall  embrace 
Oswego  Eiver,  Oneida  Lake,  and  the  Mohawk  Kiver  to  the  Hudson. 

The  attention  of  the  country  has  been  called  to  various  phases  of  the 
question  from  time  to  time;  first  as  early  as  1784,  one  year  after  this 
nation  had  achieved  recognition  from  Great  Britain.  In  1808  a  reso- 
lution of  the  Senate  called  upon  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Albert 
Gallatin,  to  report  proposals  for  internal  improvements  worthy  the 
action  of  Congress.  In  his  report  he  recommended  the  construction  of 
a  ship  canal  around  Niagara,  and  says  of  it : 

No  other  single  operation  within  the  power  of  the  Government  can  more  effectu- 
ally tend  to  strengthen  and  perpetuate  that  union  which  secures  external  independ- 
ence, domestic  peace,  and  internal  liberty. 

This  was  at  a  time  when  the  immense  population  and  resources  of 
the  West  were  unknown  and  scarcely  dreamed  of,  when  western  New 
York  was  almost  a  wilderness,  and  there  was  no  city  and  no  commerce 
upon  the  Great  Lakes  needing  defense  in  case  of  foreign  war. 

The  execution  of  this  plan  was  suspended  by  the  interruption  of 
friendly  relations  with  Great  Britain.  But  immediately  with  the 
restoration  c/t  peace  President  Madison,  in  his  annual  message,  dated 
December  3,  1816,  said: 

I  particularly  solicit  the  attention  of  Congress  to  the  expediency  of  exercising 
their  existing  powers,  and,  when  necessary,  of  resorting  to  the  prescribed  modes  of 
enlarging  them,  in  order  to  effectuate  the  comprehensive  scheme  of  roads  and  canals 
(including  Niagara)  such  as  have  the  effect  of  drawing  more  closely  together  every 
part  in  the  common  stock  of  national  prosperity. 

This  portion  of  the  message  was  referred  to  a  special  committee,  who 
made  what  has  been  called  an  "  enlightened  and  patriotic  V  report,  in 
which  the  great  valley  of  lakes  is  particularly  spoken  of  as  "the  grand 
theater  upon  which  the  General  Government  was  destined,  at  no  remote 
period,  to  act  a  distinguished  part  in  effectuating  one  of  the  greatest 
schemes  of  internal  navigation  the  world  ever  beheld." 

In  1835  a  Government  survey,  contemplating  a  canal  of  10  feet  in 
depth  around  Niagara,  was  made  by  Capt.  W.  G.  Williams,  United 
States  topographical  engineer,  pursuant  to  an  order  of  the  Executive, 
and  his  report  placed  the  feasibility  of  the  work  as  then  contemplated 
beyond  the  reach  of  controversy. 

In  1837,  in  the  second  session  of  the  Twenty-fourth  Congress,  the 
Committee  on  Koads  and  Canals  had  this  subject  under  their  consider- 
ation and  made  an  elaborate  and  exhaustive  report,  exhibiting  the 
utility  and  feasibility  of  this  important  national  work,  its  great  com- 
mercial and  military  advantages,  and  reviewing  in  a  conclusive  manner 
the  constitutional  questions  involved. 

In  the  Twenty-fifth  Congress,  in  1838,  a  report  from  the  Committee 
on  Koads  and  Canals  was  again  submitted  to  the  House,  in  which  they 


12      SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER. 


concur  in  the  frequent  recommendations  of  this  project.  On  the  11th 
of  May,  1858,  a  favorable  report  was  again  made  to  the  Thirty-fifth 
Congress  for  the  construction  of  a  Niagara  ship  canal,  and  granting 
lands  in  aid  of  the  project. 

A  select  committee  of  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress,  which  had  this 
subject  under  consideration,  made  a  report  March  3,  1863,  at  a  time 
when  the  energies  and  resources  of  the  country  were  tested  in  the  fires 
of  a  civil  war,  from  which  is  extracted  the  following : 

In  the  past,  on  various  occasions,  this  great  enterprise  has  received  great  consid- 
eration from  the  Executive,  and  favorable  attention  of  Congressional  committees. 
It  has  been  pressed  upon  the  attention  of  the  Government  by  boards  of  trade,  leading 
commercial  men,  and  State  legislatures,  and  exhibited  in  all  its  importance.  The 
bill  which  will  accompany  this  report  will  specify  as  to  the  dimensions  of  the  pro- 
posed work,  and  ask  the  amount  of  money  necessary  for  its  construction.  We  are 
aware  that  the  energies  of  the  Government  are  now  taxed  to  the  utmost  extent  to 
carry  on  the  war,  but  the  tax  upon  us  seems  to  strengthen  and  elevate  our  credit 
rather  than  otherwise.  Besides,  this  war  will  not  last  always,  but  we  hope  will  soon 
be  closed.  The  history  of  the  world  can  not  show  an  instance  like  our  case.  We 
carry  on  the  greatest  struggle  the  world  ever  saw  within  our  own  resources,  and  at 
the  same  time  our  credit  is  fair.  Our  resources  are  immense;  our  patriotism  is  un- 
failing, and  the  confidence  of  our  people  in  the  justness  of  our  cause  is  beyond  a 
doubt.  When  this  war  closes,  and  the  authority  of  the  Government  is  restored,  its 
honor  vindicated,  and  its  authority  respected,  with  our  vast  resources  heretoiore  un- 
known, but  now  discovered,  our  national  prosperity  will  be  unlimited,  so  to  speak, 
and  our  people  will  enjoy  a  higher  life,  and  rejoice  in  more  complete  success  than 
ever  before. 

As  our  energies  are  tried,  and  we  learn  our  strength  and  power,  we  are  prepared 
to  make  efforts  commensurate  with  that  knowledge.  These  great  works  of  national, 
military,  and  commercial  importance  should  not  be  delayed  by  any  considerations 
whatever.  The  efforts  put  forth  in  their  construction  will  themselves  strengthen 
and  unite  our  people  and  make  our  Union  more  worthy  of  our  love  and  protection. 

Every  road  and  every  canal  the  Government  aids  binds  our  Union  together  and 
unites  our  people,  and  tends  to  enrich  by  developing  our  resources  and  bringing  out 
the  wealth  that  lies  hidden  in  the  industry  and  enterprise  of  our  people.  The 
amount  asked  of  the  Government  is  very  small,  comparatively,  and  what  a  work 
can  be  accomplished  by  the  expenditure.  It  is  a  work  of  national  pride,  of  military 
necessity.  We  owe  it  to  our  loyal  people  of  the  West  and  North,  largely  interested 
in  commercial  business  upon  our  great  chain  of  lakes,  that  every  facility  for  protec- 
tion be  furnished  to  enable  them  to  carry  on  successfully  and  safely  their  business. 

We  owe  it  to  ourselves  as  a  nation  not  to  be  compelled  to  make  use  of  foreign  en- 
terprise, foreign  skill,  and  foreign  public  works  when  we  have  all  the  enterprise, 
skill,  and  resources  within  ourselves  to  provide  better  facilities  than  thus  employed, 
while  by  so  doing  we  would  be  developing  our  own  resources  and  benefiting  the 
labor  and  industry  of  our  own  people.  The  course  pursued  by  our  Canadian  neigh- 
bors during  the  unfortunate  civil  war  in  which  we  are  now  engaged,  if  no  other 
reason  existed,  should  be  enough  to  influence  us  to  action  in  this  direction.  Never 
have  a  people  so  utterly  failed  to  be  governed  by  good  considerations  as  they  have. 

Our  legislation,  conduct,  and  actions  toward  them  as  a  people  have  all  been  cal- 
culated to  bring  them  under  the  greatest  obligations  to  us  and  cause  themto  treat  us  as 
friends  and  not  as  enemies.  When  will  America  forget  the  insults  and  outrages 
they  tried  to  heap  upon  us  and  their  efforts  to  bring  us  and  our  cause  into  con- 
tempt?  Never,  so  long  as  we  have  any  regard  for  our  honor  as  a  people. 

Our  brave  and  loyal  citizens  engaged  in  service  upou  our  lakes  ought  not  any 
longer  than  it  will  take  to  construct  our  own  ship  canal  be  compelled  to  travel  theirs 
in  the  prosecution  of  their  legitimate  business,  and  Congress  and  the  Government 
ought  to  give  their  early  and  earnest  attention  to  the  construction  of  the  work  that 
is  herewith  proposed.  We  demand  favorable  action,  and  the  committee  can  but  be- 
lieve that  the  bill  which  now  proposes  to  secure  the  completion  of  this  valuable 
work  will  meet  with  a  hearty  approval  from  Congress. 

We  close  this  report  by  using,  as  expressive  of  our  views,  the  closing  words  of  the 
report  of  Capt.  Williams  on  this  subject,  as  follows: 

"If  I  have  shown  more  interest  in  the  question  than  is  usually  looked  for  at  the 
hands  of  an  engineer,  it  is  that  I  have  felt  the  strongest  conviction  of  the  grandeur, 
even  sublimity,  of  the  enterprise,  combined  with  its  general  usefulness  to  the  coun- 
try and  the  facility  of  its  execution." 

The  Committee  on  Naval  Affairs  of  the  same  Congress,  also  the  same 
day,  reported  the  saml  matter  favorably. 


SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER.  13 

In  1864  the  President  of  the  United  States  transmitted  to  Congress 
the  report  of  Charles  B.  Stewart,  consulting  engineer,  strongly  urging 
the  building  of  this  canal. 

It  will  be  found  in  Executive  Document  No.  61,  Thirty-eighth  Con- 
gress. 

In  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress  a  bill  was  introduced  authorizing  the 
loan  of  the  bonds  of  the  United  States  in  the  sum  of  $6,000,000  to 
enable  a  private  corporation  to  construct  a  canal  a  little  over  6  miles  in 
length  around  Niagara  Falls,  at  a  depth  of  12  feet.  This  bill  met  with 
no  opposition,  except  on  the  ground  that  it  would  make  a  draft  upon 
the  credit  of  the  Government  at  a  time  when  all  its  credit  was  required 
to  raise  money  to  prosecute  the  war  to  a  successful  issue.  This  bill 
passed  the  House  of  Representatives  on  the  1st  day  of  February,  1865, 
by  the  decisive  vote  of  95  ayes  to  51  nays.  Lack  of  time  only  prevented 
its  passage  through  the  Senate,  as  Congress  expired  thirty  days  later. 

A  similar  bill  passed  the  House  in  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress,  May  2, 
1866,  by  85  yeas  and  32  nays. 

After  this  it  became  evident  that  a  canal  of  12  feet  depth  would  not 
meet  the  requirements  of  the  increasing  lake  commerce.  Congress  on 
March  22,  1867,  passed  a  joint  resolution  authorizing  a  survey  to  be 
made.    This  survey  was  made  on  the  basis  of  a  depth  of  14  feet. 

At  the  third  session  of  the  Forty-second  Congress  the  Committee  on 
Commerce  reported  February  13,  1873,  favorably,  an  act  to  provide  for 
the  speedy  construction  of  a  ship  canal  around  the  falls  of  Niagara. 

In  the  first  session  of  the  Forty-third  Congress,  Mr.  Windom,  from  the 
Select  Committee  of  the  Senate,  appointed  to  investigate  and  report 
upon  the  subject  of  transportation  between  the  interior  and  the  sea- 
board, submitted  a  report  embodying  the  views  of  his  committee 
and  accompanied  by  testimony,  maps,  and  exhibits.  That  committee 
devoted  most  earnest  and  careful  consideration  to  the  subject  of  the 
improvemerJt  of  natural  and  the  construction  of  artificial  water  ways. 
They  personally  inspected  the  principal  existing  and  proposed  water 
routes  and  grouped  the  leading  facts  relative  to  each  route  under 
appropriate  titles.  Their  investigations  embraced  the  cost  of  con- 
struction and  improvements  of  such  routes;  their  known  or  supposed 
commercial  advantages;  the  cost  of  transport  upon  them,  and  many 
other  facts  having  an  important  bearing  upon  the  question  of  their 
relative  importance  as  commercial  highways. 

Among  the  unanimous  recommendations  made  by  that  committee 
was  that  for  the  consideration  by  Congress  of  the  various  plans  of 
uniting  the  lakes  with  the  Hudson  River.  The  committee  considered 
three  routes  by  which  the  union  might  be  effected,  viz : 

(1)  The  enlargement  of  the  Erie  Canal  from  Buffalo  to  Troy. 

(2)  The  Oneida  Lake  and  Erie  Canal  from  Oswego  to  Troy. 

(3)  The  St.  Lawrence  River,  Champlain  Canal  and  Lake  Champlain, 
The  national  character  of  the  proposed  improvements  and  the  bene- 
fits anticipated  were  fully  set  forth  in  the  report  of  the  committee  and 
the  powers  of  the  national  Government  were  discussed  with  marked 
learning  and  ability  and  most  clearly  established. 

The  House  Committee  on  Railways  and  Canals  of  the  Forty-eighth 
Congress  had  under  consideration  and  recommended  the  passage  of  a 
bill  to  provide  for  the  permanent  improvement  of  the  Erie  Canal  in  its 
report  dated  March  4,  1884. 

The  same  committee  submitted  a  report  February  26,  1886,  to  the 
Forty-ninth  Congress  in  favor  of  a  bill  providing  for  the  permanent 
improvement  of  "Qie  Erie  and  Oswego  canals  and  to  secure  the  freedom 
of  the  same  to  the  commerce  of  the  United  States. 


14      SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER 

The  river  and  harbor  act  of  1888  authorized  a  new  survey  for  a 
water  way  around  the  Niagara  Falls  of  capacity  to  float  merchant  ships 
and  ships  of  war  of  modern  build  drawing  20  feet  of  water. 

Under  this  provision  a  survey  was  made  by  Capt.  Palfrey  of  two 
separate  routes  for  a  ship  canal  around  Niagara  Falls. 

The  Fifty- first  Congress  also  had  this  matter  under  consideration 
and  a  favorable  report  was  made  to  that  Congress  recommending  the 
immediate  entry  upon  the  work  of  construction  of  the  canal  around 
Niagara  Falls  and  an  appropriation  of  $1,000,000  to  be  applied  to  the 
construction  of  the  canal. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  from  the  earliest  history  of  our  Government 
the  necessity  of  this  great  work  has  been  fully  realized,  and  yet,  ex- 
cept as  to  that  part  of  the  work  relating  to  the  survey  of  the  canal 
around  the  falls,  all  conclusions  as  to  feasibility  and  cost  and  as  to 
choice  of  routes  and  plans  have  been  based  upon  conjectures,  general 
estimates,  and  opinions,  and  nothing  has  been  predicated  upon  actual 
surveys  and  scientific  demonstration. 

The  fact  is  patent  that  the  interests  of  Canada  and  Great  Britain  on 
one  side  and  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States  on  the  other  are  diametric- 
ally opposed  on  this  very  question.  The  development  of  the  St. 
Lawrence  route,  which  Canada  and  Europe  both  desire,  leaves  New 
York  as  far  from  the  markets  of  the  West  as  ever,  while  the  manufac- 
turer of  Europe  is  brought  almost  to  their  harbors  as  regards  expense 
of  transport. 

A  route  by  the  way  of  the  Erie  Canal  or  some  modification  of  that 
route  is  quite  another  matter.  This  would  still  preserve  to  the  manu- 
facturing East  at  least  a  portion  of  its  present  advantages  as  regards 
position,  while  the  increased  demand  due  to  cheapening  of  transporta- 
tion on  heavy  goods  would  doubtless  make  up  the  remainder,  with  the 
reasonable  assurance  of  adding  to  it. 

The  point  is  to  decide  between  improving  the  St.  Lawrence  canals  or 
the  Erie,  either  on  its  present  lines  or  a  modification  of  it. 

There  seems  to  be  but  one  satisfactory  location — by  the  Erie  Canal,  or 
contiguous  to  it.  This  leaves  the  entire  route  within  American  borders. 
It  tends  to  unite  the  East  and  West  more  closely.  It  reaches  the  sea- 
board with  very  slight  loss  in  distance.  It  follows  the  direction  of 
general  trade  and  reaches  to  its  eastern  center,  New  York. 

To  determine  upon  its  exact  location  requires  a  more  extended  knowl- 
edge of  the  central  part  of  New  York  State  than  is  now  possessed. 
Only  a  detailed  and  carefully  planned  survey  can  fully  settle  the  ques- 
tion, but  there  are  several  alternatives  open.  The  Erie  may  be  im- 
proved throughout  its  entire  length,  thus  avoiding  a  canal  around  Ni- 
agra,  but  this  is  open  to  several  objections,  i.  e.:  The  length  of  actual 
canal  is  excessive,  involving  great  expense  in  construction  and  main- 
tenance, in  water  supply  and  repairs.  There  is  no  free  river  nor  lake 
navigation,  and  canal  speed  must  be  maintained  throughout.  This 
means  that  the  trip  from  Buffalo  to  Albany  would  take  at  least  three 
days  and  probably  four.  It  leaves  Lake  Ontario  out  of  the  chain  of 
water  communication,  which  omission  is  to  be  avoided  if  it  is  possible  to 
include  it  without  additional  expense. 

Next,  a  modified  route  may  be  adopted,  via  Lake  Ontario,  the  Os- 
wego River,  Oneida  Lake,  and  the  Mohawk  Valley,  utilizing  the  Mo- 
kawk  River  to  as  great  an  extent  as  possible  and  striking  the  Hudson 
at  a  point  at  which  the  proper  depth  can  be  maintained.  The  use  of 
the  Oswego  and  Mohawk  rivers  and  Oneida  Lake  offer  the  maximum 
of  free  lake  and  river  navigation  and  the  minimum  of  actual  canal  j 


SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER.  15 

but  the  distance  which  can  be  canalized  (that  is,  turned  into  long  levels 
by  dams  and  with  lockages)  in  the  Mohawk  and  Oswego  are  unknown 
quantities,  likewise  whether  Oneida  Lake  can  be  included  at  all.  In 
case  it  can  not,  it  might  still  be  used  to  great  advantage  as  a  reservoir 
for  filling  the  upper  levels  of  the  excavated,  part  of  the  route,  for  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Oneida  excavations  would  have  to  be  resorted  to. 

It  is  believed  that  in  view  of  the  immense  advantages  to  the  mate- 
rial growth,  prosperity,  and  welfare  of  our  country,  the  seeming  feasi- 
bility and  the  conjectural  cost  of  a  deep  water  way  from  the  lakes  to 
the  sea  there  should  be  no  hesitation  or  delay  on  the  part  of  Congress 
to  direct  a  survey  to  be  made  to  determine  by  a  scientific  demonstra- 
tion the  feasibility  and  the  probable  cost  of  such  a  canal  by  the  best 
possible  route  wholly  within  our  own  domain. 

This  is  demanded  by  the  mighty  and  growing  agricultural  interests 
of  the  vast  Northwest;  by  the  wonderful  commerce  of  the  Great  Lakes 
and  the  majestic  cities  upon  their  borders;  by  the  millions  of  con- 
sumers of  the  East,  and  by  that  wise  and  thoughtful  statesmanship  by 
which,  being  at  all  times  prepared  for  triumph  in  war,  we  may  at  all 
times  maintain  an  honorable  peace. 

Appended  to  this  report  are  various  statements,  papers,  and  tables, 
containing  interesting  and  valuable  information  and  statistics  having 
an  important  bearing  upon  the  question,  and  to  which  attention  is 
invited. 


Appendix  A. 


February  1, 1892. 

The  Committee  on  Railways  and  Canals  met  at  10:30  a.  m.,  Mr.  T.  C.  Catchings, 

chairman,  presiding. 

The  Chairman.  If  the  gentlemen  of  the  delegation  desire,  we  will  hear  tnem. 

Mr.  Payne.  I  hope  the  committee  will  hear  us.  I  shall  now  introduce  to  the  com- 
mittee the  delegation  from  the  lower  end  of  Lake  Ontario,  and  also  the  committee 
appointed  by  the  Deep  Water  Ways  Convention,  recently  held  in  Detroit,  to  lay  be- 
fore this  committee  the  subject  of  access  of  ocean-constructed  vessels  to  the  Great 
Lakes.  The  project  is  one  of  enormous  consequence  to  our  people ;  I  may  say,  so 
great  that  it  is  the  paramount  one,  and  concerns  the  transportation  interest  of 
26,000,000,  perhaps  I  may  say  30,000,000,  people  at  the  present  time. 

I  don't  propose,  as  I  have  access  to  the  committee,  to  go  into  the  question  at  length, 
but  I  will  ask  the  committee  to  hear  in  the  order  which  they  choose  to  select  two  or 
three  of  these  gentlemen  who  are  here  present,  giving  what  time  they  can  spare  from 
their  other  duties. 

The  Chairman.  I  want  to  say  that  the  House  meets  at  12  o'clock ;  the  committee 
therefore  have  an  hour  and  ten  minutes,  which  they  can  divide  among  themselves. 
Mr.  Payne.  I  will  introduce  to  the  committee  Mr.  S.  A.  Thompson,  of  Duluth. 


STATEMENT  OF  MR.  THOMPSON. 

Mr.  Thompson  said : 

Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen  of  the  committee,  Ex-Governor  Seymour,  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  once  said,  "  The  chief  element  in  the  prosperity  of  every  State 
and  nation  is  the  economy  of  transportation  of  persons  and  property.  It  is  the 
marked  factor  in  the  difference  between  civilization  and  barbarism." 

The  longer  I  study  the  matter  the  more  I  realize  that  these  words  are  wholly  true 
in  their  broadest  and  deepest  sense.  Transportation  is  a  tax  upon  production  and 
consumption.  I  wish,  however,  only  to  draw  your  attention  for  a  few  moments  to 
some  facts  bearing  on  the  greatest  economy  of  transportation.  The  wagon  way,  the 
railway,  and  the  water  way  are  the  three  agencies  by  which  transportation  is  accom- 
plished, the  wagon  way  being  essentially  local  in  its  character,  the  railway  conti- 
nental, and  the  water  way  worldwide  in  its  spere  of  action.  The  wagon  way  will  of 
course  be  left  out  of  this  question,  although  I  believe  the  greatest  tax  on  the  farmers 
is  the  indirect  tax  which  they  have  to  pay  by  reason  of  poor  roads. 

Some  ten  or  twelve  years  ago  two  gentlemen,  both  railway  presidents,  sat  talking 
together  in  the  office  of  an  Eastern  railway.  One  was  president  of  an  Eastern  and 
the  other  of  a  Western  road.  The  Eastern  man  stated  that  canal  boats  had  been  al- 
ready retired  and  the  river  steamers  partly  driven  into  disuse  by  the  continually  in- 
creasing efficiency  of  railways,  owing  to  the  reduction  of  grades,  the  lessening  of 
curves,  and  the  building  of  more  powerful  engines  and  larger  freight  cars,  and  that 
it  would  be  but  a  short  time  until  the  steamers  of  the  Great  Lakes  would  also  be 
driven  out  of  use,  leaving  to  the  railways  an  undisputed  monopoly. 

Standing  by  themselves  the  figures  showing  the  reduction  of  railroad  rates  are  very 
interesting.  The  average  rate  received  by  all  the  railroads  of  the  United  States  in 
1882,  according  to  Poor's  Manual,  was  1.236  cents.  According  to  statistics  of  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1890,  it  was  .941  cent. 
These  are  microscopic  figures,  but  it  means  there  has  been  a  reduction  of  almost  ex- 
actly 24  per  cent  in  nine  years. 

When  we  go  into  the  question  of  comparative  reduction  of  rates  we  shall  see  that 
it  is  possible  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  steamships  as  well  as  of  railways.  According 
to  a  table  which  I  have  here  and  which  I  will  give  to  the  committee,  I  find  that  in 
1868  the  average  charge  for  carrying  a  bushel  of  wheat  from  Chicago  to  New  York,  all 
rail,  was  42.6  cents;  while  in  1885  charge  had  fallen  to  14  cents.  That  is  to  say  the 
total  cost  of  carriage  had  been  reduced  two-thirds,  all  rail.  It  was  only  one-third 
as  much  in  1885  from  Chicago  to  New  York  as  it  was  in  1868. 
16 


'  SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER.  17 


During  the  same  time,  however,  the  cost  of  carrying  by  the  all-water  route,  that  is 
lakes,  Erie  Canal,  etc.,  had  fallen  from  25.3  to  4.55  cents,  a  reduction  of  four-fifths  in 
the  same  period. 


Calendar  years. 


Lake  and 
canal.* 


Lake  and 
rail. 


1869 
1870 
1871 
1872 
1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1879 
1880 
1881 
1882 
1883 
18S4 
1885 


25.3 
24.1 
17.5 
21.6 
26.6 
19.2 
14.2 
11.4 
9.7 
7.5 
10.1 
13.0 
13.2 
8.6 
8.7 
8. 40 
6.  59 
4.  55 


29.0 
25.0 
22.0 
25.0 
28.0 
26.9 
16.9 
14.6 
11.8 
15.8 
11.4 
13.3 
15.7 
10.4 
10.9 
11.5 


♦Including  Buffalo  charges  and  tolls. 

Let  us  return  now  to  another  question,  getting  as  near  as  we  can  to  the  actual  net 
cost  of  Transportation,  A  careful  series  of  experiments  on  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway 
showed  the  actual  cost  of  the  movement  of  freight,  exclusive  of  interest  on  bonds 
and  dividends  on  stock,  to  be  0.5  cent  per  ton  per  mile.  The  average  cost  as  reported 
to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  is  almost  exactly  20  per  cent  greater  than 
this,  while  the  lowest  cost  which  I  have  been  able  to  find  on  record  is  in  the  case  of 
the  Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern,  which  in  favorable  years  has  reported  a  cost 
of  0.4  cent  per  ton  per  mile. 

The  average  cost  on  the  Erie  Canal,  according  to  figures  from  the  State  officials,  is 
exactly  half  as  much  as  that ;  while  on  the  Aire  &  Calder  Canal,  in  England,  General 
Manager  Bartholomew,  who  seems  to  be  the  greatest  genius  in  canal  management 
which  the  world  has  yet  produced,  reports  that  he  has  been  able  to  reduce  the  cost 
of  transporting  minerals  to  0.024  cent  per  ton  per  mile,  and  for  general  merchandise 
to  0.068  cent,  the  average  being  0.046,  and  the  cost  of  returning  the  empties  being 
included  in  each  case. 

The  figures  grow  more  and  more  interesting  as  we  go  on,  and  when  we  turn  to  the 
Great  Lakes,  where  we  have  deeper  water,  we  find  results  which  are  almost  startling. 

Mr.  James  J.  Hill,  the  Western  railway  president  before  mentioned,  related  some 
time  ago  the  incident  of  his  conversation  with  the  president  of  the  Eastern  railway, 
and  added  :  "  I  might  have  continued  to  share  his  belief  in  the  ultimate  triumph  of 
the  railway  over  the  steamship,  if  I  had  not  had  occasion  since  that  time  to  build 
and  operate  steamships  for  myself."  These  steamers  carry  2,700  tons  of  freight  on 
the  present  depth  of  water  and  make  the  ran  from  Duluth  to  Buffalo  in  three  and  a 
half  days,  at  an  average  cost  of  $120  per  day;  this  is  equivalent  to  0.015  cent  per  ton 
per  mile.  This  means  that  we  are  doing  to-day  on  the  Great  Lakes  for  $1  what  it 
costs  the  best  railway  in  the  United  States  $26  to  do.  In  other  words,  the  general 
conclusion  may  be  deduced  from  these  facts  that  the  larger  the  carrier  and  the  deeper 
the  water  way  the  less  is  the  cost  of  transportation. 

This  same  railway  president,  Mr.  Hill,  speaking  to  a  convention  called  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  water  ways,  held  in  a  neighboring  city  of  mine  some  two  or  three  years 
ago,  said;  "  The  engineers  of  the  United  States)are'engaged  upon  a  project  by  which 
to  give  us  20  feet  of  water  through  the  lakes.  We  will  take  the  20  feet  of  water 
when  it  comes  and  make  good  use  of  it ;  but  I  will  say  to  you  that  whenever  they 
will  guarantee  me  18  feet  of  water  I  will  build  vessels  which  will  carry  6,000  tons  in- 
stead of  3,000 ;  and  I  will  cut  the  present  cost  of  water  transportation  square  in 
two/' 

Boats  now  on  the  lakes  which  can  only  carry  2,800  on  the  present  draft  of  water, 
could  carry  4,800  tons  if  there  were  20  feet  of  w  ater  available,  and  with  no  addi- 
tional expense  but  a  little  increase  in  the  coal  bill.  Referring  to  the  coal  question,  I 
will  call  attention  to  some  facts.  I  find  that  on  a  number  of  the  best  vessels  of  the 
prevailing  type  on  the  lakes  the  average  fuel  consumption  for  1891  was*  almost  ex- 
actly at  the  rate  of  1  ounce  of  coal  per  ton  per  mile,  while  for  some  vessels  of  the 
u  whaleback"  type,  the  new  type  invented  and  built  at  the  western  end  of  Lake 
Superior,  I  have  a  statement  from  the  manager  of  the  company  recording  the  con- 

H.  Eep.  913  2 


18      SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER. 


sumption  of  coal  for  the  past  year  as  less  than  one-third  of  an  ounce  per  ton  per 
mile. 

Another  fact  which  is  not  generally  known  is  that  the  best  steamships  on  our  lakes 
maintain  a  faster  average  rate  of  speed  per  hour  than  is  maintained  by  any  railroad 
on  freight  trains.  Of  course  freight  trains  run  about  16  miles  an  hour  while  they  are 
running,  but  they  must  side  track  to  get  out  of  the  way  of  passenger  trains  and  there 
are  other  causes  of  delay  ;  so  that  they  only  get  an  average  rate  of  speed  of  9  miles 
per  hour,  while  the  best  modern  steamers  on  the  lakes  make  the  run  between  Chicago 
and  Buffalo  at  the  rate  of  16  miles  per  hour  for  the  whole  distance;  so  we  are  able 
to  carry  goods  in  less  time  than  is  required  by  the  railroads  and  to  do  it  at  one 
twenty-sixth  of  the  cost. 

The  effect  on  railway  rates  of  water  competition  is  exceedingly  interesting  and  im- 
portant. On  roads  subject  to  water  competition  freight  rates  invariably  go  up  when 
navigation  closes  in  the  fall  and  go  down  again  when  navigation  reopens  in  the 
spring. 

A  study  of  the  statistics  in  Poor's  Manual,  or  the  report  of  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission,  shows  that  the  lowest  rates  are  found  on  roads  most  subject  to  water 
competition.  Take,  for  instance  the  Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern,  with  its 
average  rate  of  0.653  cent  and  the  Michigan  Central  with  0.7^6  cent  per  ton  per  mile, 
and  compare  these  with  the  rates  on  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul  and  Chi- 
cago and  Northwestern  roads,  which  were  1.06  and  1.03  respectively.  A  multitude 
of  similar  facts  could  be  adduced,  but  the  strongest  proof  of  the  supreme  control  ex- 
ercised by  water  ways  on  railway  rates  is  furnished  by  the  railway  men  themselves. 
In  an  argument  before  the  Committee  on  Commerce  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
made  in  opposition  to  the  "Reagan  bill,"  in  March,  1882,  Mr.  G.  R.  Blanchard,  the 
well-known  railroad  attorney,  said  : 

"  The  rail- carrying  charges  upon  the  great  east-bound  traffic  to  the  seaboard,  for 
both  consumption  and  export,  are,  therefore,  and  must  continue  to  be,  limited  by 
natural  causes,  and  can  not  be  beyond  or  as  much  as  those  which,  in  their  absence, 
would  be  deemed  fair  and  reasonable,  and  are  always  below  tho  rates  for  like  dis- 
tances, articles  and  speed  by  rail  anywhere  in  the  world.  So  potent  are  these  iacts 
that  it  is  within  the  power  of,  and  is  often  the  case  that  the  combination  or  inde- 
pendent action  of,  a  few  sail  vessels  at  Chicago  can,  in  their  seasons  of  navigation, 
procure  rates  from  owners  of  an  equal  capacity  of  Erie  canal  boats  from  Buiialo  to 
New  York,  which  added  to  their  own  rates  to  Buffalo  and  transfer  charges  will  fix, 
and  have  in  actual  practice  fixed  and  regulated,  the  entire  eastward  through  maxi- 
mum rail  freight  charges  for  a  time  upon  all  kinds  of  grain  and  many  other  arti- 
cles. *  *  *  Can  any  safer  limitation  or  check  be  legislated  than  the  inflexible 
limitations  nature  enforces  in  its  uncontrollable  rivalry  ?  *  *  *  The  application 
of  water  results  are  inexorable  in  their  effects  upon  railroad  rates  within  periods 
ranging  from  seven  to  eight  months  in  each  calendar  year  and  usually  all  the  year  in 
rivalry  with  western  rivers.  *  *  *  In  view  of  all  these  facts,  I  now  say,  with  Mr. 
Fink  :  '  Compared  with  this  powerful  regulator  of  railroad  transportation  tariffs, 
the  efforts  of  State  or  Congressional  legislation  to  prevent  extortiouate  charges  ap- 
pear to  those  at  all  conversant  with  the  subject  as  perfectly  useless.' n  To  such  a 
statement  from  such  a  source  nothing  need  be  added. 

PAR  REACHING  INFLUENCE  OF  WATER  WAYS. 

It  should  be  noted  also  that  the  influence  of  water  competition  is  not  confined  to 
the  roads  which  run  close  along  the  water  ways.  The  New  York  Central  and  Lake 
Shore  and  Michigan  roads,  considered  as  one,  are  paralleled  by  a  water  way  the  entire 
distance  from  New  York  to  Chicago,  and  rates  are  necessarily  made  under  the  influ- 
ence of  that  competition.  The  Pennsylvania  Central,  lying  perhaps  150  miles  further 
south,  can  make  no  higher  rates  than  the  New  York  Central,  otherwise  the  latter  road 
would  get  all  the  business.  On  that  point  we  have  the  testimony  of  a  great  many 
railroad  men. 

Mr.  Albert  Fink,  the  railroad  commissioner,  used  the  following  words  in  1878,  in 
a  letter  addressed  to  Hon.  William  Windom,  who  was  at  that  time  chairman  of  the 
Senate  Committee  on  Transportation  Routes  to  the  Seaboard : 

''You  are  aware  that  when  the  rates  are  reduced  between  Chicago  and  New  York 
on  account  of  the  opening  of  the  canal,  this  reduction  applies  not  ouly  to  Chicago,  but 
to  all  interior  cities  (St.  Louis,  Indianapolis,  Cincinnati)  to  New  York.  If  that  was  not 
the  rule  the  result  would  be  that  the  roads  running,  say,  from  St.  Louis,  Indianapo- 
lis, and  Cincinnati  to  Chicago,  would  carry  the  freight  to  Chicago,  from  which  point 
low  rates  would  take  it  to  the  East,aud  leave  the  direct  road  from  the  interior  points 
to  the  seaboard  without  business.  Hence,  whenever  the  rates  are  reduced  on  ac- 
count of  the  opening  of  navigation  from  Chicago  and  lake  ports,  the  same  reduction 
is  made  to  all  interior  cities,  not  only  to  New  York,  where  the  canal  runs,  but  to 
Philadelphia  and  Baltimore.    Although  the  latter  cities  have  no  direct  water-route 


SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER.  19 


communication  with  the  West,  yet  they  receive  the  benefit,  as  far  as  railroad  rates 
are  concerned,  the  same  as  if  a  canal  were  running  from  the  lakes  direct  to  these 

ties,  because  whenever  rates  from  Chicago  to  New  York  are  reduced  it  is  necessary 
tu  reduce  the  rates  from  Chicago  to  Boston,  Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore  ;  otherwise 
1  lie  business  would  all  go  to  New  York.  The  reduction  of  the  rates  from  Chicago  and 
SI.  Louis  to  Baltimore  causes  a  reduction  in  rates  on  shipments  via  Baltimore  to  At- 
lantic ports — Norfolk,  Wilmington,  Savannah,  Brunswick,  and  Fernandina— and 
tioin  there  into  the  interior  of  the  Gulf  States — Augusta,  Atlanta,  Macon,  Montgom- 
ery, Selma,  etc.  *  *  *  These  roads  *  *  *  are  obliged  to  follow  the  reductions 
made  via  the  Baltimore  road,  and  which  were  primarily  made  on  account  of  the  ex- 
istence of  the  Erie  Canal  and  the  opening  of  navigation.  The  same  way  in  regard 
to  the  west-bound  business  *  *  *  so  that  it  may  be  said  that  the  rail  rates  are 
kept  in  check  by  water  transportation." 

Nor  is  water  competition  confined  in  its  effect  entirelv  to  the  season  of  navigation. 
The  same  authority  last  quoted  testified  before  the  Senate  Committee  on  Interstate 
Commerce  that  at  least,  so  far  as  grain  rates  are  concerned,  that  influence  extends 
throughout  the  winter.  " For,"  said  he,  "if  the  rail  rates  are  made  too  high,  the 
grain  is  simply  stored  to  await  the  drop  in  rates  which  is  certain  to  come  when  navi- 
gation is  opened." 

INFLUENCE  ON  INTERIOR  RAILWAYS. 

It  is  wonderful  to  see  in  how  many  directions  and  to  what  a  distance  the  influence 
of  the  water  way  extends.  We  have  seen  that  it  not  only  gives  the  cheapest  form  of 
transportation,  but  that  it  exerts  a  powerful  influence  on  the  railways  which  parallel 
the  water  route,  whether  close  by  or  hundreds  of  miles  away,  and  that  this  influence 
is  felt  even  during  the  time  when  the  water  way  is  frozen  up.  And  even  this  is  not 
all.  The  beneficial  effect  of  the  water  way  extends  also  to  the  interior  of  the  country, 
which  is  reached  only  by  railway  lines  which  terminate  upon  the  water  way  and  make 
a  through  line  for  the  transportation  of  freight  in  connection  therewith. 

An  illustration  occurs  to  me  :  Rates  on  coal  from  the  East  are  lower  to  Duluth  than 
they  are  to  Chicago,  owing  to  circumstances  into  the  details  of  which  I  do  not  care  now 
to  go,  but  because  of  this  fact  Duluth  dealers  have  been  able  to  sell  coal  as  far  south 
as  Kansas  City  and  to  many  other  points  which  are  much  nearer  to  Chicago  than  they 
are  to  Duluth,  and  the  cost  of  getting  freight  from  New  York  to  points  in  Montana, 
Kansas,  Colorado,  and  the  West  generally  is  a  great  deal  less  than  it  would  be  if  the 
Great  Lakes  were  not  where  they  are.  As  a  further  illustration  of  this  fact,  take  the 
case  of  Aberdeen,  Watertown,  Huron,  and  other  towns  in  South  Dakota,  where  on 
the  day  they  gained  railroad  connection  with  Lake  Superior  wheat  went  up  7  cents 
a  bushel,  and  coal  came  down  $2  a  ton. 

Just  a  word  as  to  the  immense  traffic  built  up  on  the  lakes.  In  1889,  according  to 
the  estimate  of  Hon.  George  H.  Ely,  of  Cleveland,  there  passed  through  the  Detroit 
River,  representing  the  commerce  of  all  the  Great  Lakes  except  Ontario,  a  little  over 
36,000,000  tons  of  freight.  In  the  same  year  the  total  tonnage,  both  coast  and  foreign 
entries  and  clearances,  of  every  sea  port  in  the  United  States — Atlantic,  Gulf,  and 
Pacific — was  a  little  less  than  26,000,000  tons;  while  the  combined  tonnage  of  Liver- 
pool and  London,  both  coastwise  and  foreign  entries  and  clearances,  was  less  than  the 
tonnage  of  the  lakes  by  3,000,000  tons.  It  seems  to  me,  gentlemen,  that  a  traffic  of 
such  dimensions  is  entitled  to  a  great  deal  of  consideration  at  the  hands  of  Congress. 
The  traffic  which  was  carried  on  the  Great  Lakes  during  the  year  just  closed  has  been 
very  accurately  figured  out,  and  we  find  that  if  this  traffic,  which  was  carried  on  the 
lakes  last  year  at  an  average  cost  of  about  1.1  mills  per  ton  per  mile,  had  been  car- 
ried an  equal  distance  by  railway  it  would  have  cost  $150,000,000  more  than  was  paid 
for  its  carriage  by  water.  And  as  the  total  expenditure  on  all  the  lakes  above  Ni- 
agara Falls,  under  all  the  river  and  harbor  bills  on  all  lake  and  harbor  improvements, 
has  been  less  than  $30,000,000,  it  follows  that  the  saving  to  the  business  interests  of 
this  country  in  one  year  has  returned  fivefold  and  more  the  total  expenditure  during 
all  the  years  of  the  past. 

Now,  we  are  here  to  ask  at  the  present  time,  not  merely  this  committee,  but  all 
members  of  Congress,  to  consider  that,  by  a  total  expenditure  of  $3,394,000,  accord- 
ing to  the  estimate  made  by  Gen.  O.  M.  Poe,  we  can  be  given  through  all  the  con- 
necting channels  of  the  lakes  above  Niagara  Falls  a  channel  20  feet  in  depth.  As  I 
have  pointed  out  to  you,  the  saving  which  would  come  to  us  from  this  added  depth 
will  make  a  greater  reduction  in  the  cost  of  transportation  annually  than  the  ex- 
penditure of  the  $30,000,000  which  has  already  been  made.  We  therefore  ask  you  to 
consider  carefully  the  request  which  has  been  made  by  this  convention.  We  ask  you 
to  consider  the  facts  that  have  been  presented,  and  that  you  will,  by  giving  us  this 
comparatively  small  appropriation,  realize  these  benefits  for  us. 

He  who  can  most  cheaply  reach  the  markets  of  the  world  can  control  the  markets 

ithe  world.  That  is  an  axiom  to  my  mind.  One  or  two  lessons  from  foreign  lands  are 
interesting.    The  first  canal  was  built  in  France  one  hundred  years  before  Christ,  and 


20      SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER. 


they  have  been  building  canals  ever  since.  If  our  state  of  Texas  coiild  be  made  into 
a  circular  sea  and  France  made  into  a  circular  island  there  would  be  a  strip  of  ocean 
100  miles  wide  all  around  France,  and  yet  that  little  country  since  1814  has  spent 
more  than  $650,000,000  on  canals,  rivers  and  harbors,  over  $700,000,000  more  on  railways, 
and  I  do  not  know  how  many  hundreds  of  millions  upon  her  wagon  roads.  During 
the  terrible  stress  of  the  war  with  Germany  they  still  kept  building  canals ;  and  af- 
ter the  drain  of  that  war  and  all  that  enormous  war  indemnity,  in  the  seven  years 
from  1870  to  1878  they  spent  28,000,000  of  francs  on  canals  alone.  As  an  indication 
of  the  widespread  public  appreciation  of  the  advantage  which  canals  and  water  ways 
are  to  that  country,  recently  a  plebiscite  was  taken  to  ascertain  the  popular  feeling 
as  to  the  question  of  constructing  a  ship  canal,  114  miles  long  and  21  feet  deep,  from 
Paris  to  Rouen;  out  of  345,000  votes  received  there  were  just  13  against  the  measure. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  ease  with  which  France  recovered  from  the  terrible  drain 
of  the  war  with  Germany  was  because  of  the  fact  that  they  have  an  absolutely  in- 
comparable system  of  transportation  facilities  by  wagon,  railway,  and  water.  There 
is  nothing  that  is  like  it  in  completeness  in  the  world. 

Turn  again  to  a  country  somewhat  nearer  home.  Our  little  neighbor  Canada,  with 
a  population  no  greater  than  that  of  New  York  State,  has  expended  $60,000,000  upon 
her  water  ways.  That  has  a  bearing  upon  something  which  I  think  has  not  yet  been 
generally  realized.  This  country  is  a  great  producer  of  grain  and  breadstuff,  and  so 
far  we  have  managed  fairly  well  to  hold  our  own.  To  my  my  mind  one  of  the  great 
causes  of  agricultural  depression  was  the  building  of  the  Suez  Canal,  because  that 
brought  into  competition  with  our  people,  by  a  direct  water  route,  the  cheap  labor 
of  India  at  7  or  8  cents  per  day.  But  a  competition  is  coming  in  the  near  future  such 
as  our  people  have  never  faced.  I  find  that  a  parallelogram  can  be  taken  in  the 
Canadian  Northwest  equivalent  in  size  and  productiveness  to  a  parallelogram  in 
Europe  which  would  include  the  most  of  Germany  and  Russia,  France,  Holland  and 
Belgium,  Sweden  and  Norway,  and  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 

We  think  that  we  in  Minnesota  know  what  fine  wheat  is.  Minnesota  and  the  two 
Dakotas  raised  150,000,000  bushels  of  wheat  this  past  year,  and  yet  we  never  saw  such 
wheat  or  dreamed  of  wheat  of  such  quality  before  until  we  saw  the  wheat  that  came 
from  the  Peace  River  Valley,  1,500  miles  northwestward  from  the  far  northwestern 
city  of  Duluth,  in  latitude  59°  north  and  longitude  111°  west.  It  is  raised  there 
every  year.  It  is  not  a  question  of  doubt,  it  is  done  every  year  regularly.  Inside 
of  live  years,  at  the  present  rate  of  progress,  there  will  be  a  clear  water  way  through 
Canadian  Territory  of  14  feet  in  depth  all  the  way  from  Lake  Superior  to  the  ocean. 
Gentlemen,  when  that  time  comes  I  say  to  you  that  6  feet  of  water  through  the  Erie 
Canal  with  a  transshipment  at  each  end  can  no  more  compete  with  14  feet  of  water 
through  the  Canadian  canals  with  no  transshipment  at  all  than  a  wheelbarrow  can 
compete  with  a  freight  train. 

What  does  it  mean  ?  It  means  that  all  the  breadstuffs  for  direct  exportation  com- 
ing from  that  great  region  tributary  to  the  Great  Lakes  will  be  carried  by  Canadian 
instead  of  American  vessels.  They  have  the  privilege  of  touching  at  one  American 
port  on  each  trip,  and  if  they  can  carry,  as  I  believe  they  can,  the  grain  at  a  cost  of 
10  cents  per  bushel  from  the  head  of  Lake  Superior  to  Liverpool,  while  it  costs  2b 
cents  by  way  of  the  Erie  Canal  and  New  York  State,  I  am  afraid  there  is  not  sen- 
timent enough  in  trade  to  influence  people  to  pay  the  double  price. 

We  have  held  our  own  fairly  well  in  competition  with  the  cheap  labor  of  India; 
but  when  we  come  to  compete  with  men  of  our  own  race,  with  a  climate  no  more 
rigorous,  with  a  soil  just  as  productive,  and  with  transportation  facilities  immeasur- 
ably superior,  the  farmers  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska  and  the  rest  of  our  Western  States 
are  going  to  have  an  agricultural  depression  such  as  they  never  knew  before,  unless 
our  own  nation  shall  give  us  a  way  to  the  sea,  so  that  our  ships  can  go  and  come  as 
freely  as  they  do  on  the  ocean.  And  we  want  a  21-foot  channel,  whereas  they  will 
have  one  but  14  feet  deep. 

Then  there  comes  still  another  matter.  I  have  been  at  Quebec.  The  old  citadel 
there,  of  course,  is  of  no  use  as  against  modern  artillery  ;  but  on  the  other  side  of 
the  river  are  fortifications  of  a  modern  type.  I  don't  want  to  undertake  to  force  a 
way  by  them.  Halifax  has  been  made  as  impregnable  as  Gibraltar.  The  Barmudaa 
have  been  fortified  so  that  they  also  are  as  impregnable  as  Gibraltar,  and  there  is  a 
dry  dock  there  capable  of  lifting  any  war  vessel  in  the  British  navy  ;  at  Kingston 
there  is  another  fortification,  a  depot  of  naval  and  military  supplies,  and  another 
great  dry  dock ;  again,  St.  Lucia,  in  the  West  Indies,  isbein£  fortified ;  so  that  they 
have  drawn  around  our  entire  Atlantic  coast  a  cordon  of  military  and  naval  stations, 
and  have  connected  them  writh  a  cable.  These  are  supplemented,  on  the  Pacific  by  a 
magnificent  naval  and  military  depot  at  Esquimault  ;  so  that  in  an  hour,  on  receipt 
of  a  telegram  front  Londou,  they  could  launch  a  fleet  from  Halifax  against  Boston, 
New  York,  and  Philadelphia;  from  the  Bermudas  against  Charleston  and  Savannah, 
and  from  Kingston  against  the  ports  on  the  Gulf;  while  if  the  Panama  Canal  or  the 
Nicaurauga  Canal  are  ever  completed,  there  is  a  fortified  post  with  British  gune 


SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER. 


21 


pointing  directly  into  the  mouths  of  those  highways  of  commerce,  and  these  posts 
are  held  in  time  of  peace  by  10,000  British  regulars  and  guarded  by  sixteen  of  the 
best  war  vessels  in  the  world. 

In  the  report  of  the  House  Military  Committee,  published  in  1862, 1  find  these  words: 
"  The  United  States  and  Great  Britain  are  equally  prohibited  by  treaty  stipulations 
from  building  or  keeping  afloat  a  fleet  of  war  vessels  upon  the  lakes.  At  the  same 
time,  on  the  shores  of  these  lakes  the  United  States  have  many  wealthy  cities  and 
towns,  and  upoL  their  waters  an  immense  commerce  ;  these  are  unprotected  by  any 
defenses  worthy  of  special  notice,  but  are  as  open  to  incursion  as  was  Mexico  when 
invaded  by  Cortez.  A  small  fleet  of  light  draft,  heavily  armored  gunboats  could,  in 
one  month,  despite  of  any  opposition  that  could  be  made  by  extemporized  batteries,  pass 
up  the  St.  Lawrence  and  shell  every  town  and  city  from  Ogdensburg  to  Chicago. 
At  one  blow  it  could  sweep  our  commerce  from  that  entire  chain  of  waters.  To  be 
able  to  strike  a  blow  so  effective,  Great  Britain  constructed  a  canal  around  the  falls 
of  Niagara.  By  this  single  stroke  the  entire  chain  of  lakes  was  opened  to  all  Brit  ish 
light-draft  ocean  vessels.  Perceiving  our  ability  to  erect  works  upon  the  St.  Law- 
rence that  might  command  its  chanael  and  thus  neutralize  all  they  had  done,  Great 
Britain  dug  a  canal  from  the  foot  of  Lake  Ontario  on  a  line  parallel  to  the  river,  but 
beyond  the  reach  of  American  guns,  to  a  point  on  the  St.  Lawrence  below,  beyond 
American  jurisdiction,  thus  securing  a  channel  to  and  from  the  lakes  out  of  our  reach. 
Occupied  by  our  vast  commercial  enterprises  and  by  violent  party  conflicts,  our  peo- 
ple failed  to  notice  at  the  time  that  the  safety  of  our  entire  northern  frontier  has  been 
destroyed  by  the  digging  of  two  short  canals.  Near  the  head  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
the  British,  to  complete  their  supremacy  on  the  lakes,  have  built  a  large  naval  depot 
for  the  construction  and  repair  of  vessels,  and  a  very  strong  fort  to  protect  the  depot 
and  the  outlets  of  the  lake,  a  fort  which  can  not  be  reduced — it  is  supposed  by  them 
— except  by  regular  approaches. 

"The  result  of  all  this  is  that  in  the  absence  of  ships  of  war  on  the  lakes,  and  of 
means  to  convey  them  there  from  the  ocean,  the  United  States,  upon  the  breaking 
out  of  war,  would,  without  navy-yards  and  suitable  docks,  have  to  commence  the 
building  of  a  fleet  upon  Lake  Ontario  and  another  upon  the  upper  lakes.  At  the 
same  time,  England,  possessing  a  naval  depot  at  the  entrance  to  this  system  of  wa- 
ters, can  forestall  us  in  all  our  attempts,  both  offensive  and  defensive. 

THE  COLOSSAL  PRIZE  AT  STAKE. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  call  your  attention  to  the  enormous  increase  in  the  size  and 
importance  of  ^he  cities  upon  the  lakes,  and  in  the  extent  of  the  commerce  carried 
upon  these  waters  since  these  words  were  penned,  nearly  thirty  years  ago.  It  is  a 
shame  and  a  disgrace  to  this  great  nation  that  this  commerce  and  these  cities  are  just 
as  defenseless  to-day  as  they  were  then.  In  the  report  of  the  Board  of  Fortification 
published  in  1886,  I  find  a  list  of  one  hundred  and  eleven  vessels  in  the  British  navy 
drawing  12  feet  or  less.  How  many  more  there  are  that  draw  14  feet  or  less,  I  do  not 
know. 

Gentlemen,  within  three,  or  at  the  most  five  years  from  the  present  time,  it  will  be 
possible,  according  to  the  best  information  lean  get,  for  more  than  one  hundred  an  I 
fifty  vessels  of  the  British  Navy  to  pass  through  Canadian  canals  situated  in  Cana- 
dian territory  into  the  waters  of  the  Great  Lakes,  which  they  have  the  same  right  to 
navigate  that  we  have. 

Q.  Couldn't  we  seize  the  Welland  Canal  and  stop  their  passage  ? — A.  Yes,  if  they 
did  not  start  until  after  war  was  declared.  But  you  will  remember  that  when  there 
was  a  prospect  of  trouble  with  Chili  we  did  not  wait  until  war  was  declared,  but 
sent  every  available  cruiser  steaming  southward  as  fast  as  it  could  go,  so  that  it  might 
be  in  a  position  for  use  if  it  should  be  needed.  The  treaty  at  present  in  force  by 
which  both  nations  are  prohibited  from  building  or  keeping  afloat  a  fleet  of  war  ves- 
sels upon  the  lakes  can  be  abrogated  by  either  nation  on  six  months'  notice.  Suppose 
Great  Britian  gives  the  necessary  six  months'  notice  and  abrogates  that  treaty.  She 
is  a  sovereign  nation  and  has  an  undoubted  right  to  do  so,  and  when  it  is  done  they 
can  introduce  their  war  vessels  into  the  Great  Lakes,  and  have  at  their  mercy  not 
only  the  magnificent  commerce  of  the  lakes,  which  I  have  briefly  described  to  yon, 
but  also  every  city  from  Ogdensburg  and  Oswego  to  Chicago  and  I) ninth,  whenever 
they  choose  to  declare  war,  unless  this  nation  is  prepared  to  take  and  maintain  the 
position  that,  treaty  or  no  treaty,  the  passage  of  a  single  British  gunboat  through 
the  Welland  Canal  is  to  be  considered  as  an  act  of  war. 

Commercially  considered,  a  water  way  from  the  lakes  to  the  sea  would  be  worth  a 
hundred-fold  its  cost,  although  that  cost  will  necessarily  be  large ;  but  considered 
from  a  military  point  of  view,  it  seems  to  me  that  this  great  nation  can  no  longer 
afford  to  leave' the  commerce  and  the  cities  of  our  northern  lakes  in  their  present  de- 
fenseless condition.  We  have  not  a  fort  or  a  gun  worthy  of  the  name  on  all  the 
chain  of  lakes,  and  no  possible  way  to  put  into  the  lakes  a  single  vessel,  of  war  while 


22      SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER. 


the  other  nation  owning  the  territory  on  the  north  can  put  her  whole  navy  armament 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  vessels  into  these  lakes,  and  have  our  cities  and  our 
commerce  absolutely  at  their  mercy  unless  we  prepare  some  way  in  which  to  meet 
them. 

Turning  now  from  the  general  question,  I  wish  to  give  you  a  few  of  the  reasons 
why  we  ask  that  some  one  of  the  pending  bills  providing  for  a  ship  canal  around 
Niagara  Falls  should  be  passed  and  the  construction  of  a  water  way  from  Lake  On- 
tario to  the  Hudson  should  be  undertaken.  One  suggestive  fact  is,  that  in  conse- 
quence of  the  great  wheat  crop  of  the  past  year  there  were  at  one  time  last  fall  be- 
tween ninety  and  one  hundred  vessels  lying  at  Buffalo  and  in  danger  of  freezing  up 
in  the  outer  harbor  because  they  could  not  get  to  an  elevator.  All  the  facilities 
available  were  utterly  inadequate  to  take  care  of  the  flood  of  grain  poured  in  upon 
them  from  the  West.  If  we  had  a  canal  arouud  Niagara  Falls,  the  branch  of  the 
Erie  Canal  at  Oswego  would  be  equally  available  as  at  Buffalo,  also  the  six  or  seven 
railroads  which  would  come  into  competition  with  those  terminating  at  Buffalo;  and 
those  vessels,  instead  of  lying  perforce  at  the  end  of  Lake  Erie,  would  have  gone  down 
to  Oswego  and  had  their  cargoes  satisfactorily  and  cheaply  cared  for. 

Q.  Has  there  been  a  survey  and  estimate  made  of  the  cost  of  the  work  around 
Niagara  Falls  ? — A.  I  understand  that  there  has.  There  have  been  some  surveys 
made  in  the  past,  a  number  of  them,  but  not  on  the  basis  of  what  we  call  a  ship 
canal.  Capt.  Kingman,  of  the  Engineer  Corps,  is  present  this  morning,  and  he  can 
answer  these  questions.  Estimates  have  been  made,  as  I  understand,  for  a  canal  12 
feet  in  depth ;  but  the  whole  West  would  protest  against  the  building  of  a  canal 
around  Niagara  Falls  unless  it  is  made  at  least  20  feet  in  depth. 

The  advantages  in  the  way  of  competition  of  the  Niagara  Ship  Canal  have  been 
mentioned,  but  I  believe  further  that  Lake  Ontario  should  be  brought  into  connec- 
tion with  the  other  lakes.  It  is  a  simple  matter  of  justice  to  the  people  lying  on  the 
borders  of  that  lake.  Why  should  it  remain  permanently  cut  off  from  the  other 
lakes  any  more  than  our  own  great  lake  of  Superior  should  have  remained  so  by  the 
falls  at  the  Saulte  de  Ste.  Marie. 

Then  another  reason  why,  in  my  judgmejt,  this  route  around  Niagara  Falls  is  the 
best:  I  find  that  in  looking  over  the  possible  routes  that  by  this  one  we  have  the 
great  advantage  of  110  miles  of  open  navigation  in  Lake  Ontario.  Progress  through 
a  canal  probably  is  only  from  4  to  5  miles  an  hour — under  exceptionally  favorable 
conditions  they  go  7  miles  an  hour — while  our  vessels  steam  14,  15,  and  16  miles  an 
hour  in  the  open  lakes.  Through  Oneida  Lake  there  will  be  the  same  advantage  of 
deep  water;  and  when  we  come  to  the  Mohawk  we  will  canalize  that  river  as  they 
have  done  on  the  Rhine  and  the  Main,  and  there,  with  natural  banks  of  the  river 
and  the  deep  channel  in  the  center,  boats  can  go  as  rapidly  as  they  desire,  and  it 
will  be  of  the  utmost  advantage  in  that  particular.  Then  another  reason  for  the 
route  by  the  way  of  Niagara  Fal!s  and  through  Oneida  Lake  and  Oneida  River :  This 
is  the  only  route  that  can  be  found  on  the  map  which  does  not  involve  the  crossing 
of  numerous  streams.  You  will  notice  that  we  go  with  the  streams,  instead  of  cross- 
ing them  and  involving  enormous  expense  and  difficult  structures. 

I  have  spoken  to  you, gentlemen,  so  far,rather  disjointedly,  but  to  sum  up  in  a  word 
what  has  been  shown  by  experience,  the  cost  of  transportation  by  water  is  far  less 
than  the  cost  of  transportation  by  rail ;  and  by  giving  us  deeper  water  for  larger 
vessels  the  cost  will  be  still  further  reduced.  As  a  proof  of  the  influence  of  the 
canal  on  railway  rates  I  will  say  that  as  long  as  the  Erie  Canal  was  open  the  railroads 
were  carrying  grain  at  3£  cents  a  bushel  — less  than  cost —  but  immediately  the  sea- 
son closed  the  rate  jumped  up  to  7^  cents  ;  that  is  one  benefit  of  competition.  We 
in  the  Northwest  want  to  be  put  in  the  same  position  with  any  part  of  the  nation  and 
at  all  seasons  of  the  year.  The  people  of  the  West  want  to  get  their  products  shipped 
just  as  cheaply  as  any  part  of  the  nation. 

Then,  among  other  advantages,  there  are  $63,000,000  worth  of  vessel  property  on 
the  lakes,  the  value  of  which,  if  a  water  way  was  opened  out  to  the  ocean,  would  be 
almost  doubled  instantly ;  because  instead  of  tying  up  at  docks  and  in  our  lakes  they 
would  pass  out  to  the  ocean  and  engage  in  ocean  traffic  during  the  winter,  and  the 
earning  capacity  of  the  vessels  would  thus  be  doubled. 

Q.  What  is  the  depth  of  water  in  the  Hudson? — A.  From  Albany  to  Coxsackie,  I 
understand,  they  have  11  feet  of  water.  An  estimate  has  been  recently  made  that  to 
deepen  the  channel  to  22  feet,  so  as  to  make  an  available  21  feet  of  navigation  from 
Coxsackie  up  to  Albany,  would  cost  over  $5,000,000.  This  estimate  I  am  inclined  to 
consider  much  too  high  ;  because  the  cost  of  rock  work  is  set  down  as  $10  per  cubic 
yard,  while  similar  work  has  been  done  in  other  places  as  low  as  $1.20  per  cubic  yard. 

Q.  How  is  the  depth  of  water  from  there  to  New  York? — A.  I  understaud  there  is 
some  20  feet  of  water  from  there  to  New  York,  so  that  a  very  small  expense  will  give 
us  an  available  depth  of  20  feet  to  Albany. 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  shall  not  trouble  you  any  further.  I  thank  you  for  your  cour- 
tesy in  Listening  to  me  so  long  ;  but  it  seems  to  me  that  in  the  light  of  the  figures  J 


SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER.  23 


bave  given  here  and  in  the  light  of  the  military  advantage  and  the  commercial  ad- 
vantage, this  Niagara  Ship  Canal  should  he  constructed.  It  will  he  the  great  fchfc  igh 
route  to  the  oceau  which  we  must  have  if  we  are  to  hold  our  own  with  the  rest  of 
the  world. 

You  will  pardon  me  for  just  one  more  word  which  has  occurred  to  me.  I  do  not 
desire  to  he  in  the  least  understood  as  opposed  to  railroads.  Demonstrated  facts  prove 
that  instead  of  being  a  disadvantage  it  is  a  great  advantage  to  a  railroad  to  have  a 
water  way  alongside.  I  thoroughly  believe  that  the  best  thing  that  could  happen  to 
every  railroad  in  this  country  would  be  to  have  a  ship  canal  paralleling  every  mile  of 
its  track.  In  1886  the  river  Main  was  canalized  from  Mayence  to  Frankfort.  In  1887 
the  business  of  the  river  increased  64  per  cent,  and  in  1888  42  per  cent,  above  the  figure 
of  1886,  while  the  business  of  the  two  railways  lying  on  either  side  of  the  river  in- 
creased 36  in  1887  and  58  per  cent  in  1888.  The  business  of  the  city  was  enormously 
increased.  Previous  to  that  time  Frankfort  had  practically  nothing  to  sell  and  every- 
thing to  buy,  while,  following  the  cheap  freights  made  possible  by  the  improvement 
in  the  river,  manufacturing  industries  were  so  stimulated  that  traffic  from  the  city  was 
equal  in  volume  to  traffic  towards  the  city.  Taking  an  illustration  nearer  home,  look 
at  the  New  York  Central  Railway,  running  for  hundreds  of  miles  on  the  very  banks  of 
a  water  way,  and  subject  to  water-way  competition  for  its  local  as  well  as  its  through 
traffic,  yet  there  is  no  better  dividend-paying  road  in  the  United  States  and  no  other 
which  has  been  compelled  to  build  four  tracks  to  accommodate  its  business. 

Mr.  Payne.  I  will  now  introduce  Capt.  Kingman  to  the  committee. 

The  Chairman.  This  is  Capt.  Kingman,  of  the  Corps  of  Engineers,  now  stationed 
at  Oswego,  on  Lake  Ontario. 

Capt.  Kingman.  Do  you  wish  me  to  answer  questions,  or  shall  I  proceed  to  discusa 
such  matters  relating  to  the  subject  under  consideration  as  I  think  may  be  of  interest 
and  importance  ? 

The  Chairman.  Proceed  in  your  own  way,  Capt.  Kingman  ;  some  of  us,  at  least, 
have  listened  to  you  before  upon  other  subjects. 


STATEMENT  OF  CAPT.  KINGMAN. 

Capt.  Kingman  said: 

In  speaking  of  a  deep-water  route  from  the  Great  Lakes  to  tide  water  I  shall  con* 
fine  myself  to  the  engineering  considerations  alone.  The  public  importance  and  com- 
mercial value  of  ^uch  a  route  have  already  been  fully  set  forth.  I  regret  very  much* 
however,  that  I  find  myself  at  the  outset  forced  in  many  cases  to  limit  myself  to 
stating  what  I  think,  instead  of  being  able  to  declare  positively  what  I  know.  This 
is  due  to  the  absence  of  that  exact  knowledge  of  all  of  the  difficulties  to  be  met  and 
overcome  which  can  only  be  obtained  by  a  complete  and  exhaustive  examination  and 
survey  of  all  of  the  possible  routes.  A  survey,  too,  made  with  reference  to  securing 
just  such  a  route  in  depth  and  capacity  as  we  now  propose  to  secure.  And  no  such 
survey  has  ever  been  made.  I  am  referring  only  to  that  portion  of  the  route  that  liea 
between  Lake  Erie  and  Albany,  on  the  Hudson. 

In  1867  Col.  Blunt,  of  the  Corps  of  Engineers,  made  a  survey  of  a  number  cf 
routes  for  a  canal  around  the  falls  of  Niagara  to  connect  lakes  Erie  and  Ontario. 
The  canal  proposed  was  90  feet  wide  at  the  bottom  and  14  feet  deep.  The  locks  were 
to  be  275  feet  long,  46  feet  wide,  and  having  a  lift  of  about  15  feet  ea<?-h.  Six  differ- 
ent routes  were  examined  and  estimated  upon.  There  was  little  difference  in  their 
cost,  it  being  about  $13,000,000  in  each  case.  The  report  does  not  indicate  a  prefer- 
ence for  any  one  of  these  routes. 

Twenty-one  years  later,  in  1888,  the  needs  of  commerce  having  long  since  outgrown 
the  project  of  Col.  Blunt,  another  examination  was  ordered  by  Congress  with  a  view 
to  ascertain  the  cost  of  a  canal  equal  to  modern  requirements.  The  results  of  this 
investigation  are  to  be  found  in  the  report  of  the  Chief  of  Engineers  for  1889. 

It  does  not  appear  lrom  this  report  that  a  new  survey  was  made  or  that  any  addi- 
tional information  as  to  the  difficulties  to  be  overcome  was  gathered.  Under  author- 
ity contained  in  the  act  ordering  the  survey,  the  information  obtained  by  Col.  Blunt 
in  1867  was  permitted  to  be  used,  and  was  used  as  a  basis  of  estimate. 

In  the  1>:89  report,  estimates  are  given  for  but  two  routes,  and  a  preference  is  indi- 
cated for  a  route  starting  at  Tonawauda,  on  the  Niagara  River,  and  terminating  on 
Lake  Ontario,  at  Olcott,  about  18  miles  east  of  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  River.  This 
route  certainly  seems  to  possess  decided  advantage  over  any  of  the  others  proposed. 

The  new  plan  contemplated  a  canal  100  feet  wide  at  the  bottom,  150  feet  at  the 
water  surface,  and  20£  feet  deep,  having  locks  400  feet  long  and  80  feet  wide  with  a 
lift  of  18  feet.    The  estimated  cost  of  this  work  was  $'23,617,900. 

I  can  not  help  thinking  that  this  estimate  is  large.  For  example,  the  unit  price 
assumed  for  rockwork  is  $1.'25  a  cubic  yard.  This  is  the  same  as  was  used  in  the  e»- 
H.  Rep.  3  23 


24      SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER. 


timates  of  1867.  If  the  work  could  have  been  done  at  this  price  in  1867,  and  there 
seems  to  be  no  good  reason  to  doubt  it,  then  the  latter  estimate  ignores  all  the  ad- 
vantages resulting  from  the  improvements  of  twenty-one  years  in  the  methods  of 
handling  rock,  due  to  the  use  of  high  explosive  compounds,  electric  fuses,  and  power 
drills. 

The  rock  along  the  line  of  the  canal  is  not  very  hard,  and  it  will  not  be  necessary 
to  work  it  under  water.  It  does  not  seem  unreasonable,  therefore,  to  expect  that  a 
material  reduction  might  be  made  in  this  item  of  the  estimates. 

The  unit  price  for  earth  was  25  cents  a  cubic  yard — also  the  same  as  was  estimated 
twenty-one  years  before.  This  would  seem  to  ignore  all  of  the  increased  facilities 
for  bandling  earth  resulting  from  the  general  employment  of  steam  excavators  and 
conveyors. 

The  estimated  cost  of  the  locks  was  based  upon  that  of  the  lock  at  the  Saint  Marys 
Falls  Canal,  allowance  being  made  for  the  difference  in  size.  This  ought  to  be  an 
accurate  method,  other  things  being  equal.  But  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  this 
lock  begun  in  1870  and  was  thirteen  years  under  construction  ;  that  it  presented  many 
difficulties  that  were  new  then,  but  which  we  now  know,  as  the  result  of  experience, 
exactly  how  to  meet.  I  do  not  think  that  the  builder  of  that  lock  would  hesitate  Co 
undertake  to  duplicate  it  for  a  good  deal  less  than  it  cost. 

Again,  there  seems  to  be  no  good  reason  why  the  lift  should  be  limited  to  18  feet, 
which  requires  eighteen  locks  and  a  guard  lock,  to  be  used  to  overcome  the  differ- 
ence of  level  between  the  lakes.  It  would  certainly  tend  to  expedite  transit  through 
the  canal  if  the  number  of  locks  were  reduced  to  a  minimum. 

If  the  lift  was  increased  to  about  25  feet  the  number  of  locks  could  be  reduced  to 
thirteen  ;  and  if  it  was  increased  to  about  32  feet,  the  number  could  be  reduced  to 
ten. 

Of  course  a  deep  lock  would  cost  more  than  one  with  a  small  lift,  but  between  a 
great  many  shallow  locks  and  a  few  deep  ones  there  would  he  found  a  number  which 
would  give  the  most  economical  and  advantageous  result.  I  can  not  tell  now  ex- 
actly what  the  number  would  be,  but  I  am  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  twelve  or 
thirteen  locks  would  be  the  proper  number. 

This  reduction  in  the  number  of  locks  would  doubtless  reduce  the  amount  required 
for  lock  construction.  Finally,  more  than  $2,000,000  was  included  in  the  estimate 
for  "  contingencies." 

Taking  all  things  into  consideration,  it  seems  not  unreasonable  to  expect  that  this 
canal  could  be  built  to-day  for  a  sum  materially  less  than  that  named  in  the  report. 

But  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  the  canal  would  in  all  respects  meet  the  present 
requirements,  so  great  has  been  the  increase  in  the  size  of  our  lake  vessels  in  the 
last  few  years.  In  fact,  it  seems  certain  that  the  length  of  lock  proposed,  400  feet, 
would  be  insufficient  to  admit  some  of  the  vessels  that  will  be  afloat  on  the  upper 
lakes  before  this  canal  could  possibly  be  completed.  Therefor©  I  think  estimate 
should  be  made  for  locks  not  less  than  500  feet  long. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  bottom  width  for  the  canal  of  100  feet  may  perhaps  be  found 
unnecessarily  large.  The  Suez  Canal  is  only  72  feet  wide  at  the  bottom,  and  it  has 
been  stated  that  it  is  very  fortunate  that  it  was  not  made  any  wider,  as  vessels  steer 
better  and  are  mors  easily  controlled  in  it  than  they  would  be  in  a  wider  one. 

In  this  canal  vessels  do  not  attempt  to  pass  each  other  wherever  they  may  happen 
to  meet,  but  wide  places,  called  gares,  are  provided  at  suitable  intervals,  and  the 
meeting  of  vessels  is  arranged  in  the  same  manner  as  that  of  trains  on  a  single  track. 
The  one  having  the  right  of  way  keeps  on  its  course,  while  the  other  enters  the  gare 
or  siding  and  is  secured  to  the  bank.  It  is  thought  that  this  way  is  safer,  better,  and 
more  expeditious  in  the  long  run  than  it  would  be  to  let  large  vessels  pass  each  other 
at  will  in  a  canal  of  any  width  that  it  would  be  practicable  to  build. 

If  this  theory  is  sound,  then  it  might  be  possible  to  save  one-fourth  of  the  excava- 
tion proposed  in  the  Niagara  Canal  by  reducing  the  bottom  width  from  100  to  75  feet. 
The  surface  width  I  think  should  be  greatly  increased  where  the  cut  is  in  earth.  In- 
stead of  150  feet  I  would  make  it  at  least  300  feet;  and  I  would  make  the  side  slopes 
from  the  water  surface  down  to  a  depth  of  6  or  7  feet  very  flat,  like  the  natural  shores 
of  a  lake  or  pond,  and  from  this  depth  to  the  bottom  of  the  canal  I  would  make  the 
slopes  as  steep  as  the  material  will  safely  stand,  say  about  1  on  2. 

The  upper  flat  slopes  would  be  protected  by  a  Viprap  or  pavement.  The  lower 
elopes  would  be  left  of  earth,  so  that  a  vessel  would  not  be  injured  if  it  happened  to 
strike  them.  This  form  of  canal  would  give  the  wave  raised  by  the  vessel  a  chance 
to  spread  and  break  on  the  flat  slopes  as  on  the  beach,  would  afford  space  for  the 
water  to  flow  round  the  vessel,  and  ought  to  reduce  the  resistance  due  to  passing 
through  a  narrow  channel  to  a  minimum. 

So  much  for  the  Niagara  Canal.  And  now  after  getting  vessels  down  into  Lake 
Ontario,  it  is  necessary  to  provide  a  way  for  them  to  pass  from  it  to  tide  water  in  the 
Hudson  River,  say  at  Albany. 

The  best  route  for  this  purpose  seems  to  be  via  the  Oswego  River  to  the  mouth  of 


SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER.  25 


the  Oneida  River,  then  up  this  river  to  Oneida  Lake,  thence  across  the  lake  and  over 
the  divide  to  the  Mohawk  River  near  Rome,  thence  down  the  Mohawk  to  the  Hudson. 
We  have  not  as  good  information  as  to  the  cost  of  a  ship  canal  via  this  route  as  we 
had  in  the  case  of  the  Niagara  Canal. 

The  present  Erie  Canal  affords  a  route  along  this  line  for  vessels  drawing  some- 
thing less  than  7  feet.  In  1874,  Col.  Wilson,  Corps  of  Engineers,  made  a  survey  of 
this  route  and  prepared  estimates  for  a  canal  120  feet  at  the  bottom  and  10  feet  deep, 
having  locks  185  feet  long,  29  feet  wide,  and  with  9  feet  of  water  on  the  miter  sills. 
The  locks  to  have  an  average  lift  of  about  9  feet.  The  estimated  cost  of  such  a  canal 
was  $25,000,000. 

Of  course  this  was  not  a  ship  canal  at  all.  It  was  intended  for  the  use  of  steam 
barges  or  canal  boats  capable  of  carrying  28,000  bushels  of  wheat.  Aud  it  falls  so  far 
short  of  what  we  now  desire  that  it  is  of  very  little  value  as  a  means  of  determining 
what  a  ship  canal  would  cost. 

We  can,  however,  form  a  rough  estimate  of  the  probable  cost  in  this  way  :  Taking 
the  estimate  for  the  Niagara  Caual  as  a  basis  (and  from  what  I  have  already  stated 
about  it  we  shall  be  likely  to  err  on  the  side  of  safety),  we  find  that  the  total  amount 
of  lockage  on  the  Mohawk  Canal  is  610  feet,  being  nearly  double  that  on  the  Niagara 
Canal.  On  the  latter  the  estimate  for  locks  was  $10,000,000,  therefore  the  locks  from 
Lake  Ontario  to  Albany  should  cost  double  the  sum,  or  $20,000,000. 

The  distance  (leaving  out  the  length  of  Oneida  Lake)  is  about  seven  times  as  great 
as  the  length  of  the  Niagara  Caual.  The  estimated  cost  of  excavation  on  the  Niagara 
Canal  was  $10,000,000,  therefore,  other  things  being  equal,  the  excavation  of  the 
Mohawk  Canal  ought  to  be  seveu  times  as  great,  or  $70,000,000.  This  would  make  the 
total  cost  about  $90,000,000. 

I  am  satisfied  that  this  is  too  large,  because  with  exception  of  a  short  distance  be- 
tween Oneida  Lake  and  the  Mohawk  River  this  route  really  would  not  be  a  canal  at 
all,  but  would  consist  of  three  canalized  rivers,  namely,  the  Oswego,  the  Oneida,  and 
the  Mohawk.  And  as  the  existing  channels  of  these  rivers  would  be  utilized  to  the 
fullest  extent,  the  amount  of  excavation  would  certainly  thereby  be  greatly  reduced. 

In  this  rough  way,  however,  you  can  form  some  idea  what  the  cost  would  be. 

The  principle  objection  which  is  always  raised  to  this  Mohawk  Valley  route  is  the 
want  of  a  sufficient  supply  of  water  for  the  summit  level.  They  have  considerable 
trouble  now  in  periods  of  protracted  drought  in  obtaining  sufficient  water  for  the  pres- 
ent Erie  Canal  with  its  seven-foot  depth.  And  the  opponents  of  this  route  ask,  with 
apparent  reason,  "  How  are  you  going  to  obtain  water  for  a  canal  of  five  times  the 
capacity  of  the  present  one  ?  " 

The  presentf water  supply  is  drawn  from  the  Black  River,  a  tributary  of  the  St. 
Lawrence,  and  from  certain  reservoirs  in  the  Adirondack  region.  It  is  stated  in  many 
of  the  reports  upon  the  subject  that  the  present  reservoirs  are  not  utilized  to  the  best 
advantage,  and  that  many  others  might  be  built  which  would  enormously  increase 
the  supply.  But  if  this  source  should  prove  inadequate  we  have  an  inexhaustible 
supply  in  Lake  Erie. 

The  level  of  the  water  in  Lake  Erie  is  about  150  feet  above  the  summit  level  of  the 
canal  at  Rome,  and  there  are  no  insurmountable  obstacles  in  the  way  of  conducting 
this  water  in  any  desired  quantity  to  the  Rome  level  by  the  construction  of  an  open 
feeder  similar  to  the  large  irrigating  ditches  now  under  construction  or  in  use  in  some 
of  the  Western  States. 

Such  a  feeder  might  leave  the  Niagara  Ship  Canal  at  Lockport,  at  which  point  the 
water  would  be  very  nearly  at  Lake  Erie  level ;  it  could  then  either  be  carried  by  a 
route  entirely  separate  and  distinct  from  that  followed  by  the  Erie  Canal  to  the  Rome 
level,  or  else  a  portion  of  the  present  Erie  Canal  might  be  utilized. 

The  water  from  Lake  Erie  is  now  carried  in  the  Erie  Canal  as  far  as  Montezuma,  a 
point  where  the  canal  crosses  the  Seneca  River.  This  point  is  below  the  Rome  level, 
and  of  course  the  water  can  not  now  be  utilized  beyond  this  point.  If  the  Erie  Canal 
was  used  at  all  it  would  be  necessary  to  depart  from  it  in  the  vicinity  of  Rochester, 
and  maintain  a  higher  grade,  in  order  to  carry  the  water  over  the  present  low  portion. 

A  different  crossing  over  the  Montezuma  marshes  would  undoubtedly  have  to  be 
selected,  and  the  water  carried  across  this  low  ground  either  by  means  of  a  viaduct 
similiar  to  those  used  in  the  West,  or  possibly  by  an  inverted  syphon. 

It  might  be  asked,  if  all  this  work  is  to  be  done  in  order  to  bring  water  from  Lake 
Erie,  why  would  it  not  be  better  to  make  this  feeder  a  little  larger  and  use  it  as  a 
ship  canal  ?  The  answer  would  be,  that  in  the  case  of  a  feeder  which  is  not  to  be 
navigated,  we  should  be  able  to  resort  to  tunnels,  inverted  syphons,  aud  other  simi- 
lar devices  when  necessary  to  carry  the  water  over  aud  through  obstructions,  and 
we  should  not  be  so  restricted  in  the  matter  of  alignment  as  in  a  navigable  canal. 
For  these  reasons  a  feeder  which  would  be  ample  for  the  purpose  could  no  doubt  be 
constructed  for  a  very  small  fraction  of  the  cost  of  a  navigable  canal. 

Finally,  the  great  advantage  which  fcbis  route — that  is  to  say,  the  route  by  the  Ni- 
agara Ship  Canal,  Lake  Ontario  and  the  Oswego,  Oneida  Lake  and  Mohawk  River, 


26      SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVEB. 


offers  over  any  other  route  which  can  be  selected,  is  this,  that  it  does  not  cross  any 
natural  water  course.  For  a  canal  only  6  or  8  feet  in  depth,  it  is  not  a  very  difficult 
matter  to  cross  a  river  by  means  of  an  adequate  bridge,  but  when  it  is  a  question  of 
a  canal  which  is  to  be  20  feet  deep,  the  difficulty  is  enormously  increased.  In  the 
first  place  the  weight  of  water  to  be  carried,  which  would  be  more  than  1,200  pounds 
to  the  square  foot  of  surface,  would  require  very  heavy  and  massive  structures.  More- 
over, it  would  be  very  difficult  and  would  impose  many  hard  conditions  to  bring  a 
canal  to  a  river  in  such  a  way  as  to  enable  us  to  hold  its  surface  more  than  20  feet 
above  the  level  of  high  water  in  the  river. 

In  the  case  of  small  streams  which  a  canal  intersects,  three  things  can  be  done 
either  the  stream  can  be  carried  under  the  canal  in  a  culvert,  or  else  it  can  be  carried 
over  the  canal  by  a  bridge,  or  else  it  can  be  admitted  into  the  canal  as  a  feeder. 

The  first  method  is  the  one  generally  used  iu  canals  of  moderate  depth,  bnji  it 
would  be  very  difficult  and  expensive  to  apply  it  in  the  case  of  a  canal  that  was  20 
feet  deep  as  it  would  generally  involve  a  lowering  of  the  bed  of  the  stream  for  a  con- 
siderable distance  on  each  side  of  the  canal,  or  else  the  use  of  an  inverted  siphon, 
which  would  be  a  very  unwise  expedient  as  it  would  be  liable  to  be  choked  up  by 
sediment  and  thus  dam  the  stream. 

To  carry  the  small  stream  over  so  large  a  canal  would  also  be  very  difficult,  and 
would  require  the  use  of  a  drawbridge  in  order  to  allow  the  passage  of  vessels  in  the 
canal,  therefore  to  admit  the  small  streams  into  the  canal  would  be  almost  the  only 
practicable  expedient,  and  this  would  be  objectionable  and  often  dangerous,  because 
of  the  large  amount  of  water  and  solid  material  that  might  be  delivered  in  time  of 
freshets. 

One  of  the  most  serious  obstacles  that  the  Panama  Canal  had  to  encounter  was  the 
Chagres  River,  which  it  intersected  a  number  of  times  in  its  course,  and  which  formed 
an  obstacle  for  which  no  very  satisfactory  remedy  was  ever  found. 

The  canal  from  Oswego  to  Albany,  would  be  situated  in  the  beds  of  existing  streams. 
It  would  take  the  line  of  the  natural  drainage  of  the  country. 

It  would  therefore  receive  in  a  natural  way,  as  feeders,  all  of  the  tributary  streams, 
and  would  be  likely  to  suffer  the  least  possible  loss  from  seepage. 

Q.  What  would  be  the  total  cost  of  this  project  ? — A.  According  to  the  rough  esti- 
mates which  I  have  given,  it  would  be  about  $20,000,000  for  the  Niagara  Shin  Canal 
and  $90,000,000  for  the  canal  from  Oswego  to  Albany.    In  all,  $110,000,COO. 

Q.  That  would  be  on  the  presumption  that  the  Government  would  supply  the 
money  as  rapidly  as  possible  ? — A.  Yes.  It  would  be  on  the  supposition  that  no  inju- 
rious or  expensive  delay  should  result  from  the  failure  of  appropriations  ;  in  other 
words,  it  is  on  the  supposition  that  the  money  should  all  be  appropriated  at  once,  or 
that  provision  should  be  made  by  law  for  awarding  contracts  for  the  whole  work,  to 
be  done  and  paid  for  as  money  was  appropriated. 

Q.  How  long  would  it  take  to  complete  this  project  ? — A.  It  would  take  at  least 
three  or  four  years. 

Q.  You  would  want,  then,  about  §25,000,000  or  $30,000,000  a  year,  or  as  large  an 
amount  as  the  appropriation  for  all  the  river  and  harbor  improvements  of  the  whole 
country  ? — A.  Yes,  if  it  was  intended  to  push  the  work  as  fast  as  possible,  but  it 
would  not  in  any  case  be  necessary  to  have  as  much  as  this  for  the  first  year. 

Q.  When  we  appropriate  $23, 000,000  for  all  the  rivers  and  canals  in  the  country, 
we  are  very  much  abused  ? — A.  Not  by  those  who  fully  understand  the  value  and 
necessity  of  these  works. 

Q.  Would  you  utilize  the  old  Erie  Canal  from  Syracuse  down? — A.  I  do  pot  think 
that  the  location  of  the  present  Erie  Canal  would  be  the  most  favorable  one.  I  think 
the  route  would  follow  the  chanuelsof  the  Oswego  and  Oneida  River,  and  would  then 
pass  through  Oneida  Lake,  and  leave  it  so  as  to  strike  the  Mohawk  by  the  shortest 
possible  line,  and  would  then  follow  the  channel  of  the  Mohawk. 

Q.  You  would  not  touch  the  Erie  Canal  at  all  ? — A.  No,  sir  ;  we  would  go  back  to 
the  old  canoe  and  bateau  trail  used  by  the  Indians,  a  route  that  was  mentioned  as 
worthy  of  improvement  by  the  surveyor-general  of  New  York  as  early  as  1724. 

Q.  I  understand  a  survey  has  been  made  below  Albany  as  an  independent  proj- 
ect?— A.  A  board  was  appointed  to  consider  that  subject  in  consequence  of  a  section 
in  the  last  River  and  Harbor  bill.  What  results  they  arrived  at  I  do  not  know.  It 
was  of  course  quite  independent  of  the  ship  canal  project.  It  wras  a  link,  however,  in 
the  chain,  and  would  be  of  immediate  advantage  in  bringing  ocean  navigation  that 
much  nearer  to  the  lakes. 

Q.  In  your  opinion,  does  the  value  and  importance  of  the  project  demand  the  ex- 
penditure necessary  for  a  close  survey  and  estimate  to  determine  the  actual  feasi- 
bility of  a  water  way  from  the  lakes  to  the  Hudson  ? — A.  Yes,  sir;  it  is  certainly  a 
project  of  great  promise,  and  it  has  never  had  a  thorough  survey.  We  had  a  survey 
made  from  Oswego  to  Albany  for  a  9-foot  canal;  but  that  was  a  very  small  affair.  Ac- 
cording to  the  surveys  and  estimates  then  made  such  a  canal  could  be  built  for 
$25,000,000. 


SHIP  CANAL  FKOJI  THE  GKEAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER. 


27 


Q.  Do  you  know  -what  the  cost  of  the  Erie  Canal  was? — A.  I  think  the  total  cost 
■was  about  $50,000,000,  of  which  the  enlargement  cost  about  $42,000,000. 

Q.  What  would  he  the  cost  of  a  thorough  survey? — A.  If  the  survey  was  limited 
to  this  one  line,  which  I  have  described,  that  is  to  say,  from  Tonawanda  to  Olcott, 
and  from  Oswego  via  Oueida  Lake  to  Albany,  a  thorough  and  satisfactory  survey 
might  be  made  for  $35,000  or  $40,000.  If  it  was  necessary  to  consider  the  construc- 
tion of  a  canal  on  some  other  route  or  routes  from  Lake  Erie  to  tide  water,  then,  of 
course,  the  cost  would  be  a  great  deal  more. 

Q.  How  much  would  it  cost  to  make  a  survey  of  a  route  from  Oswego  to  the  Hud- 
son ? — A.  For  this  part  of  the  route  about  $25,000  if  made  for  a  single  route,  but  if  it 
was  going  to  be  a  general  survey,  and  a  good  many  other  routes  were  to  be  consid- 
ered, requiring  a  number  of  surveys,  then, in  that  case,  $100,000  might  not  be  too 
much.  However,  if  you  limit  it  to  the  route  which  I  believe  to  be  the  best  and  only 
feasible  one,  then  the  smaller  sum,  that  is,  $40,000  would  be  amply  sufficient. 

Q.  Don't  you  think  it  would  be  necessary  to  consider  all  the  available  routes  in 
order  to  stifle  criticism  ?— A.  From  this  point  of  view,  as  matter  of  policy,  they  ought 
all  to  be  considered,  of  course,  because  every  route  has  its  own  advocates  and  friends 
who  know  its  advantages  and  who  would  advance  the  best  of  reasons  in  favor  of  t  heir 
own  particular  route,  and  in  order  to  satisfy  everybody  I  think  every  route  should  be 
examined  and  thoroughly  considered. 

Q.  Do  you  deem  it  teasible  to  adopt  the  Champlain  route,  and  have  a  communica- 
ting waterway  on  our  own  territory  ? — A.  I  think  that  would  be  impossible. 

Q.  In  your  judgment  is  it  likely  that  a  sufficient  water  supply  could  be  obtained 
in  the  Adirondack  region  and  Black  River  for  the  purpose  of  this  canal  from  Oswego 
to  the  Hudson  ? — A.  It  is  possible  that  a  sufficient  supply  might  be  so  obtained.  This 
subject  would  be  fully  investigated  and  it  might  not  be  necessary  to  draw  water  from 
Lake  Erie  at  all.  I  do  not  think  that  the  canal  pr^jiosed  would  require  as  much 
water  in  proportion  to  its  size  as  the  present  Erie  Canal.  A  very  considerable  por- 
tion of  the  water  required  to  supply  any  canal  goes  to  make  up  the  loss  from  leak- 
age. The  general  level  of  the  Erie  Canal  in  the  Mohawk  Valley  is  some  20-odd  feet 
above  the  river.  This  position  must  be  favorable  to  leakage.  The  water  in  the 
canal  must  tend  to  escape  through  the  soil  and  find  its  way  to  the  river,  the  natural 
drain  of  the  country.  But  if  the  canal  generally  occupied  the  bed  of  the  river  itself, 
the  loss  from  leakage  would  certainly  be  greatly  reduced. 

This  occupation  of  the  river  by  the  ship  canal  would  not  in  my  opinion  work  any 
injury  to  the  existing  water-rights.  On  the  contrary,  I  think  it  would  generally 
benefit  them,  because  the  United  States  would  construct  and  maintain  better  dams 
than  now  exist  there. 

Q.  How  ma^iy  routes  have  been  proposed  for  the  Niagara  Ship  Canal  ? — A.  Some 
six  routes  were  reported  upon  by  Col.  Blunt,  but  the  one  which  starts  from  Tona- 
wanda and  goes  in  a  nearly  straight  line  to  Olcott  is  undoubtedly  the  best  route.  It 
passes  near  Lockport  and  then  descends  in  a  natural  gorge,  which  is  a  favorable  place 
for  the  construction  of  locks  down  to  Lake  Ontario. 

Q.  I  assume  you  are  familiar  with,  the  other  routes? — A.  I  have  seen  the  results  of 
the  surveys  and  I  know  something  of  the  ground  itself.  Three  of  these  routesare  simply 
for  short  canals  around  the  falls,  and  return  to  the  Niagara  River  before  it  enters  the 
lake.  None  of  them  offer  any  advantage  in  cheapness  or  ease  of  construction  over 
the  Olcott  line,  and  all  of  them  are  open  to  the  very  serious  objection  from  a  military 
standpoint,  that  one  or  both  of  their  entrances  is  in  view  at  short  range  of  the  terri- 
tory of  another  nation.  So  that  in  time  of  war  they  could  easily  be  blockaded  or 
destroyed  by  land  batteries. 

The  Tonawanda  line,  however,  has  its  upper  entrance  behind  a  large  island  several 
miles  in  extent  which  belongs  to  us,  and  which  might  be  fortified,  while  its  lower 
entrance  is  in  Lake  Ontario,  18  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  river. 

Q.  In  the  recent  report  are  the  estimates  based  on  calculation  or  on  the  cost  of  other 
works? — A.  They  are  based  on  the  survey  of  the  ground  made  in  1^Q7,  and  such  an 
examination  as  was  then  made  to  ascertain  how  deep  rock  would  be  found  and  what 
the  character  of  the  rock  was.  I  think  they  computed  the  number  of  yards  of  rock- 
work  the  number  of  yards  of  earthwork  to  be  done,  as  nearly  as  they  could,  and 
that  the  cost  of  the  locks  was  based  very  largely  on  the  actual  experience  gained  in 
the  construction  of  lock  at  Sault  St.  Marie,  which  is  of  course  as  safe  an  estimate  as 
you  can  get. 

Q.  Have  the  procesces  of  construction  been  improved  largely  of  late  ? — A.  Yes;  im- 
measurably so.  We  have  now  means  of  transmitting  power  by  electricity  or  by  com- 
pressed air,  which  have  been  enormously  improved  or  late,  and  we  have  a  water  power 
behind  us  that  exceeds  anything  in  the  world.  We  can  use  this  water  power  directly 
from  the  tunnel  at  Niagara  Falls,  or  we  can  take  it  to  Lockport,  which  would  not  be 
so  far  away.  We  can  put  in  our  water  wheels  and  convert  the  power  into  the  form 
of  electricity  and  carry  it  along  the  sides  of  the  excavations,  and  can  run  all  dump 
cars,  dredges,  and  drills  by  electric  motors;  and  we  ought  to  be  able  to  accomplish. 


28      SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER. 


results  in  the  way  of  economy  and  efficiency  that  have  never  been  equaled  in  any 
work  of  this  kind. 

To  illustrate  what  this  power  is :  The  total  amount  of  earth  that  would  have  to  be 
excavated,  in  order  to  form  the  Niagara  Ship  Canal  according  to  the  present  project, 
is  about  13,000.000  cubic  yards.  A  large  amount  no  doubt.  If  it  were  placed  in  a 
hemispherical  mound  it  would  bury  the  Washington  Mouuument  out  of  sight.  But 
there  is  power  enough  in  the  water  going  over  the  Niagara  Falls,  if  it  could  be  ap- 
plied and  made  to  work,  to  excavate  this  enormous  body  of  earth  from  the  canal  and 
place  it  on  the  bank  in  a  little  less  than  seven  iniuutes. 

Q.  Do  you  think  the  various  routes  have  been  sufficiently  investigated  ;  that  is,  do 
you  think  it  would  be  necessary  to  go  over  all  the  routes  again  in  a  survey  ? — A.  In 
my  judgment  it  would  not ;  but  I  think,  as  has  been  suggested,  that  for  the  purpose 
of  satisfying  all  criticism  and  convincing  everybody  that  this  the  best  route  to  take, 
and  why  it  is  better  than  any  other  that  might  be  proposed,  it  would  be  well  to  ex- 
tend the  survey  in  sufficient  detail  over  all  the  other  suggested  routes. 

Q.  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  different  localities  would  have  to  have  a  hearing  in 
order  to  decide  the  "best  route  to  take.  We  will  be  pestered  to  death  if  we  did  not 
give  them  a  hearing.  How  long  do  you  think  it  would  take  to  have  that  survey 
made  ? — A.  The  survey  of  all  the  routes  could  be  accomplished  in  one  summer.  It 
would  simply  be  necessary  to  increase  the  number  of  surveying  parties.  That  is,  all 
of  the  field  work  could  be  done  in  one  summer,  and  a  report  be  prepared  in  the 
course  of  the  following  winter.  I  think  a  year  would  be  the  proper  length  of  time 
in  which  to  furnish  a  satisfactory  report. 

Q.  What  would  be  the  probable  cost  of  such  a  survey  ? — A.  Well,  if  confined  to  the 
one  route  that  I  have  suggested,  it  would  cost  from  -$35,000  to  .$40,000.  If  it  were  ex- 
tended to  include  all  the  routes  so  as  to  be  prepared  to  meet  all  criticism,  I  should 
say  it  might  cost  $100,000. 

Q.  Would  not  the  survey,  at  present  made  on  the  Erie  Canal  route,  be  sufficient  for 
determining  whether  that  was  a  feasible  route  or  not? — A.  No,  sir  ;  it  would  show 
that  this  was  a  possible  route  for  the  Erie  Canal,  but  that  is  not  what  we  want. 
When  it  becomes  a  question  of  building  a  canal  three  times  as  deep  as  the  Erie,  we 
should  encounter  innumerable  obstacles  that  did  not  trouble  the  smaller  caual  at  all. 
Moreover,  it  would  not  be  fair  to  this  route  to  condemn  it  on  the  strength  of  what 
is  known  about  the  present  Erie  Canal,  if  the  result  of  our  examination  of  these 
facts  should  be  uufavorable,  for  it  might  be  that  a  different  location,  but  one  follow- 
ing something  the  same  course,  would  be  very  much  more  favorable  for  a  ship  canal. 

Q.  The  only  practical  route  is  through  British  territory,  so  that  the  only  surveys 
necessary  would  be  the  Erie  Canal  route  and  the  route  you  speak  of. — A.  Yes,  sir;  I 
think  we  can  safely  say  that. 

Q.  I  understand  the  present  route  of  the  canal  from  Oswego  to  Albany  is  not,  in 
your  judgment,  as  practical  an  one  as  a  route  which  would  seek  a  lower  level  in  the 
Deds  of  streams,  and  therefore  there  would  have  to  be  a  new  survey  made.— A.  Yes, 
sir;  that  is  my  opinion,  particularly  as  regards  the  line  in  the  Mohawk  Valley 

Q.  Could  not  the  surveys  made  by  Col.  Blum  ,  which  cover  from  five  to  six  differ- 
ent routes  between  Lake  Erie  and  Lake  Ontario,  he  utilized.  Are  they  of  a  charac- 
ter to  be  utilized  at  this  time  ?— A.  They  could  be  utilized  to  some  extent ;  that  is, 
they  would  take  the  place  of  preliminary  reconnaissances.  They  would  show  the 
engineer  where  to  look  for  what  he  wanted  to  find  ;  but  they  would  not  be  sufficient 
in  other  respects. 

Q.  Don't  you  think  that  even  on  these  routes  a  less  extensive  survey  could  be 
made? — A.  I  doubt  it.  I  think  that  a  topographical  survey  of  the  proposed  route 
should  be  carefully  made,  the  nature  of  the  ground  should  be  examined  at  intervals  of 
a  quarter  or  a  half  mile  by  pits  .sunk  to  a  depth  considerably  greater  than  that  of  the 
proposed  canal,  and  the  character  of  the  rock  should  be  carefully  examined  so  as  to 
ascertain  its  hardness  and  the  difficulty  or  ease  with  which  it  may  be  worked;  and 
all  tbese  things  ought  also  to  be  carefully  done  over  the  Mohawk  route. 

Q.  You  are  satisfied  in  your  own  mind,  from  preliminary  examinations  already 
made  that  this  is  the  most  feasible  route? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  But  only  suggest  as  expedient,  and  to  answer  the  criticisms  of  other  contending 
interests,  that  it  might  be  advisable  to  examine  the  other  routes  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Payne.  The  chairman  of  the  committee  suggests  that  there  may  be  some  facts 
and  figures  that  these  gentlemen  who  have  addressed  the  committee  would  like  to  add 
to  their  remarks,  so  that  they  may  be  incorporated  with  the  printed  documents. 

The  Chairman.  These  remarks  can  be  revised  and  they  can  make  it  as  full  as  they 
desire. 

The  Chairman.  It  is  now  12  o'clock,  but  if  the  gentlemen  would  like  to  have  a 
farther  hearing  we  can  give  them  an  hour  on  Thursday  at  the  same  hour  as  to-day. 

Mr.  Sloan.  I  desire  to  thank  the  committee  for  the  courtesy  of  offering  us  time  for 
a  further  hearing  ;  but  I  belii'vc  it  the  general  opinion  that  the  question  has  been 
very  ably  aud  very  fully  discussftd ;  that  the  ground  has  been  thoroughly  covered.  W« 


SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER.  29 


are,  therefore,  quite  willing  to  leave  the  matter  as  it  is,  expecting,  of  course,  if  any 
information  can  be  given  in  regard  to  the  wishes  of  those  we  represent,  that  such 
information  will  be  given  by  our  representative  in  Congress,  Mr.  Payne.  We  want 
to  thank  the  committee  for  the  favor,  but  we  don't  see  there  is  any  necessity  for  us  to 
try  to  add  anything  to  what  has  been  already  said. 

Mr.  Payne.  I  will  be  glad  to  give  the  committee  any  further  information  that  is 
within  my  power. 

The  Chairman.  Thursday  is  our  regular  day  ;  and  we  will  give  Mr.  Payne  an  op- 
portunity to  be  heard  on  that  day,  if  it  is  agreeable  to  the  rest  of  the  committee. 

This  was  agreed  to  by  the  committee,  with  the  proviso  that  the  clerk  be  ordered  to 
put  into  the  notice  that  the  hearing  on  that  day  is  to  be  on  this  subject  of  water 
ways. 

Adjourned. 


Appendix  B. 

AN  OPEN  LETTER  FROM  HON.  HORATIO  SEYMOUR.  FORMERLY 
STATE  ENGINEER  AND  SURVEYOR  OF  NEW  YORK,  IN  REGARD 
TO  THE  COMMERCE  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR. 

Marquette,  Mich.,  February  20, 1892. 

Dear  Sir:  While  to  most  men  the  commerce  of  the  Lower  Lakes  is  a  familiar 
subject,  Lake  Superior  is  an  unknown  region.  They  are  aware,  perhaps,  that 
iron,  copper,  and  lumber  are  shipped  from  her  ports,  but  beyond  that  they  know 
very  little.  They  look  upon  the  Lake  Superior  region  as  a  barren  wilderness, 
with  almost  an  Arctic  climate  and  a  sterile  soil. 

This  is  brought  about  by  the  fact  that  for  many  years  railroad  facilities  were 
denied  to  the  shores  of  Lake  Superior,  wiiile  they  had  penerrated  beyond  her  to 
the  Pacific  coast.  Lake  Michigan  bounds  this  region  on  the  east,  cutting  off 
east  and  west  lines  of  travel.  In  summer  vessels  coasted  along  the  shore,  but 
when  the  Groat  Lakes  were  closed  with  ice  the  only  access  to  the  outer  world 
was  by  st.-ges.  This  continued  uutil  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railroad, 
attracted  by  the  demand  for  the  iron  in  the  Marquette  Range,  built  a  railroad 
to  within  13  miles  of  Lake  Superior,  and  established  the  port  of  Escan  ba  on 
Lake  Michigan,  and  followed  this  by  the  construction  of  two  branches  to  the 
Menominee  Range,  an  iron  region  lying  along  the  Wisconsin  line. 

In  1877  the  Wisconsin  Central  was  built  to  Ashland.  Since  that  time  the  Mil- 
waukee and  St.  Paul,  the  Milwaukee.  Lake  Shore  and  Western,  the  Duluth, 
South  Shore  and  Atlantic  Railioads  have  been  consiructed  to  the  shores  of 
Lake  Superior:  the  latter  road  working  an  east  and  west  connection,  both  by 
Montreal  and  by  Detroit,  between  the  seaboard  and  Lake  Superior.  On  the 
north  shore,  the  Canadian  Pacific,  or  its  branches,  touch  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie, 
Nepegon,  and  Port  Arthur,  and  bring  to  the  shores  of  the  lake  the  grain  of  Man- 
itoba and  the  Assiniboine  Valley. 

Running  to  the  western  end  of  the  lake  to-day  are  the  Northern  Pacific,  tiie 
St.  Paul  and  Duluth,  the  Eastern  Railway  of  Minnesota)  the  Chicago,  St.  Paul, 
Minneapolis  and  Omaha,  the  Duluth  and  Winnipeg,  the  Duluth  and  Iron  Range, 
and  the  Duluth .  South  SI  ore  and  Atlantic  Railways. 

The  advent  of  almost  all  of  these  railways  has  b^en  comparatively  recent,  and 
has  been  brought  about  by  the  necessity  for  moving  to  the  lake  ports  the  im- 
mense wealth  of  iron,  copper,  lumber,  sandstone,  and  grain  that  is  shipped 
through  Lake  Superior,  and  the  return  cargoes  of  coal  and  merchandise.  The 
divisions  of  these  great  railways  like  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern,  and  the 
Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul,  which  connect  with  Lake  Superior,  are  the  most  profit- 
able of  their  lines,  running  as  high  as  one  hundred  and  fifty  trains  a  day  in  Order 
to  transact  their  business.  The  iron  of  Lake  Superior  is  distributed  along  its 
southern  shore,  through  the  counties  of  Marquette.  Menominee.  Iron.  Dickinson, 
Baraga.  Gogebic,  in  the  State  of  Michigan,  and  on  the  north  shore,  in  St.  Louis 
and  Lake  coun  ies  in  Minnesota.  The  greater  part  of  this  ore  is  shipped  by 
water,  and  in  1890  amounted  to  a  little  more  than  9,000,000  tons,  a  large  body  of 
which  was  of  the  highest  grade  of  Bessemer  ore. 

The  copper  is  found  in  Houghton  and  Ontonagon  counties,  in  the  State  of  Mich- 
igan. In  the  season  of  1891  there  was  shipped  109.370,000  pounds,  the  value  of 
which,  at  11  cents  anound.  would  amount  to  over  $12,000,000.  The  lumber,  which 
is  almost  entirely  white  pine,  from  the  great  forests  of  Michigan,  Wisconsin  and 
Minnesota,  contributed  to  the  commerce  of  Lake  Superior  30b, 305,000  feet  B.  M. 


30      SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVEK. 


The  sandstone,  which  is  of  a  variety  of  colors  of  what  is  termed  brownstone,  is 
scattered  along  the  shore  of  Lake  Superior  almost  from  one  end  to  the  other,  ris- 
ing above  the  waters  of  the  lake  and  forming  quarries  easily  worked,  and  near 
water  transportation.    The  amount  produced  in  1891  was  over  1,000,000  tons. 

Of  grain,  there  was  transported  3,780.143  barrels  of  flour  and  38,816,570  bushels 
of  wheat,  and  1,032,104  bushels  of  other  grain.  These  articles,  transported 
through  Lake  Superior,  have  enabled  vessels  t®  bring  back  cargoes  at  low  rates; 
2,507,532  tons  of  coal,  234,528  barrels  of  salt,  and  417,093  tons  of  unclassified  freight, 
mostly  merchandise. 

The  total  tonnage  through  the  lake  was  9,041,213  tons  in  1890,  and  8,888,759  tons 
in  1891.    In  1881,  ten  years  since,  this  traffic  only  amounted  to  1,567,741  tons. 

The  increase  in  business  on  Lake  Superior  has  been  accompanied  Vy  a  phe- 
nomenal growth  in  population.  The  county  of  Ashland,  Wis.,  has  increased  in 
the  last  ten  years  from  1,599  souls  to  20,063,  an  increase  of  1,186.91  per  cent; 
Bayfield,  from  564  souls  to  7,390,  or  an  increase  of  1,210.28  per  cent;  Douglass 
County,  from  655  souls  to  13,468,  or  an  increase  of  1,956.18  per  cent;  St.  Louis 
County,  in  which  Duluth  is  situated,  from  4,504  souls  to  44,862,  or  an  increase  of 
896.05  per  cent;  Gogebic  County,  in  Michigan,  from  nothing  to  13,166  souls,  and 
the  other  counties  of  the  State  of  Michigan  lying  along  the  shores  of  Lake  Su- 
perior from  60  to  80  per  cent.  This  large  increase  in  population  appears,  by  the 
United  States  census,  to  be  the  growth  of  ten  years,  whereas  it  has  actually  taken 
place  in  a  much  shorter  time. 

The  region  lying  along  the  shores  of  Lake  Superior,  if  we  can  judge  by  the 
experience  of  territory  similarly  situated,  is  destined  to  sustain  a  large  popula- 
tion, and  the  business  done  on  the  lake,  although  large,  is  but  small  compared 
with  that  which  will  be  transacted  in  the  future.  The  country  is  covered  with 
a  heavy  growth  of  hardwood,  among  which  there  is  a  large  amount  of  white  and 
Norway  pine.  The  soil  is  good,  being  composed  of  the  drift  carried  along  by  the 
ancient  glaciers.  It  is  capable  of  raising  grain  of  all  sorts  except  corn,  but  there 
is  a  value  added  to  the  crop  in  this  region  that  is  exceptional.  The  mines,  the 
quarries,  and  the  commerce  on  the  lake  give  to  the  farmer  a  speedy  sale  and  a 
near-by  market  that  other  regions  with  a  more  favorable  climate  do  not  possess, 
and  this  demand  will,  in  all  probability,  increase.  The  iron  fields  of  Marquette, 
Gogebic,  and  Vermillion  have  been  but  partially  developed,  and  larger  mines 
and  more  numerous  ones  will  be  seen  in  the  future.  The  output  of  copper  in- 
creases year  by  year,  and  the  market  for  lumber  as  well. 

The  farmer  finds  a  sale  for  his  hardwood  for  fuel  or  for  charcoal,  and  millions 
of  railroad  ties,  fence  posts,  and  telegraph  poles,  can  be  sold  at  all  the  railroads 
and  lake  ports,  while  the  cheao  transportation  on  the  lakes  makes  the  merchan- 
dise and  the  groceries  cheaper  than  where  access  can  only  be  had  to  the  com- 
mercial centers  by  rail.  The  manufacture  of  iron  has  yet  only  been  started,  but 
the  success  of  furnaces,  notably  the  "  Hinkle  Furnace"  at  Ashland,  shows  that 
the  ore  can  be  made  into  iron  at  a  large  profit  near  the  mines.  The  large  bodies 
of  hemlock  remain  untouched ,  and  hard  and  soft  wood  lumber  have  received  as 
yet  no  notice,  and  will  in  time  create  furniture  factories  and  tanneries  that  will 
give  employment  to  thousands  of  operatives. 

Large  as  the  local  business  of  Lake  Superior  will  be  in  iron,  copper,  sandstone, 
etc.,  it  is  as  a  cheap  channel  for  wheat  and  flour  of  the  west  that  it  will  be  cele- 
brated within  the  near  future.  The  western  end  of  Lake  Superior  extends  nearly 
1,500  miles  into  the  heart  of  our  country,  and  is  only  1,700  miles  from  the  Pacific; 
it  is  immediately  tributary  to  the  great  wheat  belt  that  extends  to  the  north, 
south,  and  west  of  it. 

The  following  table  from  W.  A.  Livingstone,  of  Detroit,  "Twenty-foot  Chan- 
nel," shows  the  comparative  shipments  of  flour,  wheat,  and  corn  from  the  five 
principal  lake  ports  for  1890  and  1891: 


"  Ports. 

Flour. 

Wheat. 

Corn. 

Chicago  

Barrels. 
1,757.745 
1,613, 728 
2, 496.  000 
426, 523 
432 

Bushels. 
7, 030.  707 
1.389,714 
13. 874.707 
3, 097.  468 
2,961,378 

Bushels. 
57,  529.  820 
25.  335 
1,453.010 
9,  13;t.  959 
372,  798 

Duluth  and  Superior  

Toledo  

Detroit  

Total  :  

6, 294,  428 

28,  353,  974 

68, 520,  922 

SHIP  CAXAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER. 


31 


This  shows  that  the  grain  seeks  the  nearest  point  of  water  transportation,  and, 
although  it  has  to  be  handled  twice  from  rail  to  lake,  and  at  Buffalo  perhaps  from 
lake  to  rail  again,  the  economy  of  water  transportation  more  than  compensates 
for  this  outlay. 

T  also  quote  from  Mr.  Livingstone  in  regard  to  the  receipts  of  coal  during  the 
seasons  of  1889. 1890.  and  1S91.  also  the  rates  per  net  ton  for  carrying  coal  from 
Buffalo  to  the  several  lake  points  during  the  season  of  1891. 


Receipts  of  coal. 


Chicago  

Milwaukee  

Duluth  and  Superior  

Other  Lake  Superior  ports  

Other  Lake  Michigan.  Huron,  and  Erie  ports  

Other  Lake  Ontario  and  St.  Lawrence  River  ports 


Net  tons. 
1,266,505 

903, 659 
1,681.525 

495.  405 
1. 504.  837 

900. 000 


Bates  for  carrying  coal. 


Date. 


April  14  

May  11  

Julv  18  

July  20  

August  12  

August  28  

September  2  

September  15  

September  2d  

October  28  

October  29  

Nov  ember  10  

November  1^  

November  28  .?  

Average  rate 


Duluth. 

Milwau- 
kee. 

Chicago. 

SO. 40 

SO.  50 

SO.  60 

.40 

.60 

.60 

.40 

.50 

.60 

.30 

.50 

.50 

.40 

.50 

.50 

.30 

.50 

.50 

.30 

.40 

.40 

.25 

.40 

.40 

.25 

.50 

.50 

.25 

.50 

.60 

.25 

.60 

.60 

.10 

.60 

.60 

.10 

.  75 

.75 

.10 

1.00 

.  75 

.318 

.545 

.557 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  last  table  that  for  a  period  the  freight  to  Duluth  on  a 
ton  of  coal  from  Buffalo  was  only  10  cents.  This  wonderfully  low  rate  was  the 
return  cargo  for  the  boats  carrying  the  38,000.000  bushels  of  wheat  shipped  from 
the  western  end  of  Lake  Superior  in  1891.  Its  effect  illustrated  the  blessing  of 
cheap  transportation. 

Mr.  S.  A. "Thompson,  secretary  of  the  Duluth  Chamber  of  Commerce,  says  in 
regard  to  this  cheap  lake  rate: 

'•Rates  on  coal  from  the  East  are  lower  than  they  are  to  Chicago,  owing  to 
circumstances  into  the  details  of  which  I  do  not  ca^e  now  to  go,  but  because  of 
this  fact  Duluth  dealers  have  been  able  to  sell  coal  as  far  south  as  Kansas  City 
and  to  many  other  points  which  are  much  nearer  to  Chicago  than  they  are  to 
Duluth,  and  the  cost  of  getting  freight  from  New  York  to  points  in  Montana, 
Kansas.  Colorado,  and  the  West  generally  is  a  great  deal  less  than  it  would  be 
if  the  Great  Lakes  were  not  where  they  are.  As  a  further  illustration  of  this 
fact,  take  the  case  of  Aberdeen.  Watertown,  Huron,  and  other  towns  in  South 
Dakota,  where  on  the  day  they  gained  railroad  connection  with  Lake  Superior 
wheat  went  up  7  cents  a  bushel  and  coal  came  down  $2  a  ton." 

The  growing  commerce  of  Lake  Superior  is  not  merely  a  local  benefit:  it  adds 
to  the  wealth  of  every  lake  port.  Commerce  is  a  blessing  that,  while  it  takes,  it 
gives  back  twofold.  A  ton  of  iron  ore  transported  from  a  Lake  Superior  port 
stimulates  many  industries:  it  sta"ts  in  motion  shipyards  that  have  grown  to 
such  proportion'that  they  compete  in  the  construction  of  ocean  vessels  with  the 
great  builders  on  the  Atlantic:  it  builds  up  railroads  to  handle  it  and  cities  in 
which  to  load  it  and  unload  it.  In  its  transformation  into  iron  it  has  opened 
mines,  employed  coke  ovens,  and  created  furnaces;  worth  perhaps  $5  a  ton  at 
the  mines  as  merchant  steel,  it  has  increased  twenty  times  in  value.  But  this  is 


32       SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER. 


not  all  that  it  has  accomplished.  It  has  created  a  demand  for  coal  as  a  re  "urn 
cargo,  and  has  made  a  demand  for  food,  furniture,  clothing",  building  materials, 
and  luxuries  that  must  be  supplied  from  the  great  cities  of  Chicago,  Milwaukee, 
Detroit,  Toledo,  Cleveland,  and  Buffalo. 

The  opening  of  the  commerce  of  Lake  Superior  has  been  of  more  than  ordinary 
value  to  the  commerce  of  the  country.  While  the  natural  commodity  transported 
on  the  Lower  Lakes  is  grain.  Lake  Superior  has  added  iron,  copper,  and  sandstone, 
and  will  soon  control  the  grain  and  lumber  trade.  This  diversity  of  articles  gives 
a  constant  and  growing  business,  which,  although  it  may  suffer  in  time  of  de- 
pression, yet  is  more  likely  to  provide  a  profitable  traffic  than  if  the  articles 
transported  were  but  one  or  two  in  number.  The  present  season  (1891)  has  illus- 
trated this,  for,  although  there  is  a  partial  depression,  and  the  iron  trade  is  not 
active,  a  large  crop  of  grain  and  a  foreign  demand  has  made  active  business  for 
the  lakes  and  lake  ports. 

That  the  growth  of  Lake  Superior  business  is  notfor  the  benefit  of  that  region 
alone  may  be  seen  from  the  number  of  railroad  lines  reaching  out  from  Chicago, 
Milwaukee,  and  Detroit,  and  that  find,  as  the  Lake  Superior  region  grows,  their 
business  in  passenger  traffic  to  and  from  the  great  cities  of  the  lakes,  and  their 
freight  business,  not  only  in  coarse  materials,  but  also  in  valuable  and  highly- 
wrought  and  manufactured  articles  increases  also.  The  most  profitable  railway 
lines  are  those  that  run  in  competition  with  the  great  water  routes,  and  the 
roads  leading  to  Lake  Superior  are  no  exception  to  the  rule. 

When  we  consider  the  benefits  growing  out  of  cheap  transportation  that  inure 
to  all  parts  of  our  country,  we  are  not  surprised  at  the  efforts  to  lower  the  cost. 

Increasing  the  depth  and  width  of  the  channels,  placing  light-houses  on  the 
rivers  between  the  lakes,  and  building  danger  signals  and  life-saving  stations 
will  all  aid  to  do  this,  and  it  should  be  done  at  once;  the  outlay  is  but  a  small 
part  of  the  value  of  one  season's  business,  and  any  interruption  to  navigation  will 
cost  tenfold  the  amount  that  would  be  necessary  to  spend  to  insure  against  such 
disaster. 

In  order  to  show  the  benefit  to  be  derived  from  a  20-foot  channel  I  quote  again 
from  Mr.  W.  A.  Livingstone: 

"To  understand  what  this  improvement  means,  take  the  effect  on  one  of  the 
present  steamers.  This  year  the  draft  of  water  permissible  through  the  St. 
Marys  River  has  varied  from  14  to  14i  feet.  Through  Lake  St.  Clair  (Grosse 
Pointe)  the  draft  has  varied  from  15  to  16  feet.  On  14  feet  3  inches  draft  through 
the  'Soo'  the  steamer  Maryland  would  carry  about  2,875  net  tons  of  cargo;  were 
there  a  20- foot  passage  and  were  she  loaded  to  19  feet  draft  she  would  carry  about 
4,550  net  tons  of  cargo.  This  means  that  where  she  now  carries  cargo  at  $1  per 
ton  free  in  and  out  from  Lake  Superior  on  a  draft  of  14  feet  3  inches,  she  could 
then  afford  to  carry  cargo  at  63  cents  per  ton  in  19  feet  draft  and  still  make  the 
same  net  earnings  as  she  does  now  at  the  higher  freight.  Or,  where  she  now 
carries  for  $1  per  ton  on  the  Lower  Lakes  on  a  16-foot  draft,  she  could  then  carry 
for  76  cents  per  ton  and  make  the  same  earnings." 

With  all  the  business  done  on  Lake  Superior  there  have  been  certain  dangers  • 
and  difficulties  in  navigating  the  St.  Mary's  River  that  have  been  a  tax  on  the 
commerce  of  the  country.  In  1881,  when  the  new  lock  was  completed,  it  was 
expected  that  vessels  could  draw  16  feetof  water,  but  during  tkepast  season  this 
has  been  reduced  to  14  feet,  while  the  depth  of  water  through  the  St.  Clair 
Flats  Canal  has  been  16  feet. 

It  is  necessary,  in  order  to  pass  the  St.  Marys  River,  that  it  be  done  in  the  day- 
time, and  therefore  all  boats  must  arrange  their  time  so  that  they  reach  the  lock 
about  noon;  this  creates  an  accumulation  of  boats  and  delays  the  lockage.  The 
channel  of  the  river  is  narrow  and  crooked,  so  narrow  that  the  sinking  of  the 
boat  named  the  Susan  E.  Peck  completely  blocked  the  passage,  and  a  channel 
had  to  be  dredged  around  one  end  of  the  vessel  to  open  navigation.  This  ob- 
struction cost  at  least  $146,236  in  delayed  navigation.  How  much  more  it  cost 
in  diverting  business  from  the  lakes  can  not  be  known. 

A  difference  of  a  foot  in  draft  takes  off  about  300  tons  from  the  cargo  of  a  large 
vessel,  or  about  one- fifth  of  her  cargo.  This  is  sufficient  to  drive  boats  away 
from  the  Lake  Superior  business,  especially  if  they  can  load  to  a  greater  depth 
with  less  delay.  A  large  vessel  must  be  allowed  to  travel  at  her  full  speed  and 
run  no  risk  of  collision  or  accident.  Through  the  narrow  channel  of  the  St. 
Marys  River,  with  no  sufficient  light-houses,  vessels  can  not  r»an  at  more  than 
half  speed,  and  the  danger  of  collision  or  going  aground  when  loaded  boats  are 
passing  in  the  contracted  parts  of  the  river  are  very  great.  Business  can  not 
afford  to  take  such  risks,  and  such  evils  not  only  drive  away  commerce,  but 
make  the  business  that  is  done  pay  a  higher  rate  than  it  should  do. 


SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER.  33 


Owning  to  the  lack  of  lights  on  the  St.  Marys  River  there  are  ports  of  Lake 
Superior  where  boats  arrive  in  one  direction  in  the  night  only,  and  all  the  busi- 
ness of  loading  and  unloading  must  be  done  at  that  time  or 'the  vessel  must  be 
delayed  for  hours. 

The  amount  asked  by  Gen.  Poe  for  a  20-foot  channel.  $3,394,835.96,  and  the  con- 
struction of  a  new  lock  at  the  Sault  will  do  much  to  correct  these  evils,  but  the 
amount  asked  for  Avill  not  be  appropriated  without  an  effort,  in  which  all  the 
territory  around  the  Great  Lakes  must  join.  It  must  be  shown  not  only  to  the 
States  bordering  on  the  lakes,  but  to  the  West  and  East  and  South,  that  the 
country  is  benefited  as  a  whole  by  what  is  so  essential  for  the  good  of  the  largest 
part  of  our  Union. 

With  a  view  to  aid  this  cause,  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  writing  you  this  let- 
ter, knowing  that,  as  a  citizen  of  New  York,  a  State  that  owes  its  prominence  to 
its  waterways,  you  will  be  interested  in  any  project  that  will  cheapen  transporta 
tion. 

Very  truly  yours, 

Horatio  Seymour. 

Eon.  Henry  W.  Bentley,  M.  C, 

House  of  .Representatives,  Washington,  D.  O. 


Appendix  0. 
from  the  west  and  northwest  to  the  sea. 

[A  paper  by  William  Pierson  Judson,  member  Am.  Soc.  C.  E.] 

The  West  and  Northwest  must  have  the  best  possible  waterway  to  the  sea. 
The  best  waterway  is  that  by  which  the  largest  practicable  lake  steamers  can 
go  nearest  to  the  sea  by  deep-water  navigation  without  breaking  bulk. 

Such  a  route  can  be  made  either  through  the  United  States  or  through  Canada, 
and  the  great  profits  of  the  carrying  trade,  which  is  vastly  increasing  every 
3'ear.  and  which  exceed  the  profits  of  production,  will  go  to  that  nation  which 
provides  the  best  way. 

Each  government  has  expended  large  sums  to  improve  their  natural  water- 
ways; the  present  magnitude  of  the  commerce  calling  for  these  improvements 
being  indicated  by  the  20,000,000  of  tons  passing  the  St.  Clair  Flats  Canal  yearly. 

The  Unitea  States  has  met  the  demand  by  the  construction  of  the  Sault  St. 
Mary  Canal  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Superior,  having  the  finest  and  largest  lock  in 
the  world,  with  a  still  larger  one*  now  in  progress;  also,  by  the  excavation  of 
the  St.  Clair  Flats  Canal  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Huron,  and  by  the  deepening  of 
the  Detroit  River  at  the  entrance  to  Lake  Erie. 

The  latter  being  completed  and  the  others  in  progress  ta  pass  20  feet  draft. 

The  logical  sequence  of  the  liberal  policy,  each  step  of  which  has  been  fol- 
lowed by  a  great  growth  both  in  size  and  number  of  vessels  and  in  volume  of 
commerce  is  to  also  provide  a  similar  20-foot  waterway  from  Lake  Erie  to  Lake 
Ontario. 

The  Western  demand  for  this  further  step  toward  their  Eastern  market  was 
recognized  by  the  last  Congress  in  its  call  for  plans  and  estimates  for  a  20-foot 
ship  canal  around  Niagara  Falls. 

These  estimates,!  reprinted  here,  were  made  and  submitted  to  Congress,  where 
they  were  soon  followed  on  December  18, 1839.  by  the  introduction  by  Congress- 
man Sereno  E.  Payne  (since  made  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Railways  and 
Canals)  of  a  bill,  also  here  reprinted,  providing  for  the  work.  This  bill  now 
awaits  Congressional  action. 

The  essential  points  of  the  plans  and  estimates  are  also  embodied  on  the  sheet 
of  maps  and  profiles  which  have  been  made  for  and  which  accompany  this  paper 
Th  ?  map  shows  some  of  the  main  connecting  and  competing  liius  of  both  raid- 
«vays  and  canals  with  the  Niagara  region  on  a  larger  scale. 

The  profiles  show  the  two  practicable  routes,  which  are  the  only  ones,  of  many 
purveyed,  which  arc  worthy  of  consideration  for  the  large  locks  (400  by  80  by  21 
ieet)  now  desired. 

*  Eight  hundred  feet  long  between  gates.  100  feet  wide  in  gates  as  well  as  in 
chamber,  and  21  feet  deep  on  miter  sills.  Report  Col.  O.  M.  Poe,  Corps  of  En- 
gineers. An.  Rep.  Chief  Engineers.  U.  S.  A.,  1889,  p.  2223. 

t  Rjport  Capt.  Carl.  F.  Palfrey,  Corps  of  Engineers,  An.  Rep.  Chief  Engineer* 
U.  S.  A.,  1S89,  p.  2131. 

H.  Rep.  913  3 


S4       SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER. 


The  eighteen  locks  estimated  for  take  as  their  model  the  1881  lock  of  the 
Sault  St.  Mary  Canal,  which,  being-  designed  to  pass  two  or  more  vessels  at  once, 
is  therefore  larger  than  needed  for  the  Niagara  Canal,  being  515  feet  long,  80 
feet  wide,  and  1(5  feet  deep. 

This  lock,  with  its  unique  methods  of  operation,  has  had  nine  years  of  unin- 
terrupted use,  and  all  its  details  have  been  proven  to  be  so  perfect  as  to  leave  no 
room  for  improvement ;  a  most  fitting  monument  to  the  skill  and  wisdom  of  the 
late  Gen.  Godfrey  Weitzel,  who  planned  and  built  it,  having  as  the  only  com- 
parable precedent  his  own  similar  works  in  1871  on  the  Louisville  Canal*at  the 
Falls  of  the  Ohio. 

Of  the  two  routes  selected  for  the  Niagara  Ship  Canal,  the  longer  one  of  25 
miles,  known  as  the  Lockport — Olcott,  or  Eighteen-Mile  Creek  route — is  prefer- 
able, and  is  estimated  to  cost  $23,000,000. 

It  offers  remarkable  natural  advantages  for  construction  as  well  as  for  opera- 
tion, in  the  "  Lockport  Gulf,"  2£  miles  long,  in  which  the  descent  is  made^  and 
also  in  the  Eighteen-Mile  Creek  gorge,  4  miles  long,  by  which  Lake  Ontario  is 
reached. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  striking  features  of  the  routes  selected  can  not 
be  here  shown  better  than  by  description,  by  reproducing  a  series  of  photographs 
taken  by  the  writer  in  1889,  while  examining  in  detail  the  various  lines. 

The  six  millions  greater  cost  of  the  Wilson  route,  which  is  5  miles  shorter,  is 
due  in  part  to  its  lack  of  the  natural  features  above  referred  to,  and  in  part  to 
the  necessity  for  doubling  nine  of  the  locks  to  obtain  the  service  which  single 
locks  give  on  the  Olcott  line. 

□  The  United  States  Government  has  not  been  alone  in  its  works  for  the  lake 
commerce,  for  meantime  the  Canadian  Government,  despite  its  comparatively 
small  population  and  limited  resources,  has  spent  some  $54,000,000  in  construct- 
ing and  recently  in  enlarging  its  canal  system,  with  a  view  to  controlling  the 
western  trade. 

This  system  now  consists  of  the  14-foot  Welland  Canal  from  Lake  Erie  to  Lake 
Ontario,  around  Niagara  Falls,  and  of  the  St.  Lawrence  River  canals  around  the 
various  rapids  by  which  the  outflow  of  the  lakes  descends  from  Lake  Ontario 
through  246  feet  of  fall,  to  tide  water  at  Montreal. 

These  last-named  canals— 6  in  number,  with  26  locks — have  an  original  depth 
of  9  feet,  which  is  now  in  process  of  increase  to  14  feet. 

From  Montreal,  now  practically  a  seaport,  a  27i  to  30  foot  channel  for  seago- 
ing steamers  has  been  made  at  a  cost  of  some  $2,500,000,  their  voyage  thence  to 
Liverpool  being  315  miles  less  than  from  New  York. 

That  portion  of  the  shipment  from  the  upper  lakes  which  passes  through  the 
United  States  and  reaches  New  York,  is  taken  from  Lake  Erie  at  Buffalo  by  352 
miles  of  the  7-foot  Erie  Canal  to  the  Hudson ;  and  from  Lake  Ontario  at  Oswego 
by  the  two  branches  of  the  Erie  Canal,  via  Syracuse  and  via  Oneida  Lake,  the 
latter  route  having  184  miles  of  canal  and  river  and  23  miles  of  Oneida  Lake 
travel  to  reach  the  Hudson. 

The  deep  waters  of  Lake  Ontario  are  now,  however,  practically  unused  for 
this  traffic,  the  only  important  western  shipments  passing  through  it  for  Amer- 
ican ports  being  to  Ogdensburg,  for  shipment  thence  b}^  rail;  the  only  access  to 
Lake  Ontario  from  the  West  being  through  the  14-foot  Canadian  Welland  Canal. 

This  is  too  small  to  pass  the  larger  upper-lake  steamers,  and  the  discrimina- 
tion in  tolls  which  is  made  against  vessels  bound  for  American  ports  is  such  as 
to  be  almost  prohibitory.  Nominally,  the  tolls  are  the  same  to  all  vessels,  and 
are  20  cents  per  ton  of  cargo  and  2£  cents  per  ton  of  vessel;  but  the  amount  is  re- 
funded or  rebated  to  vessels  which  deliver  their  cargos  at  a  Canadian  port. 

Observation  of  the  map  will  recall  the  striking  advantage  of  Canada's  position 
as  regards  the  lakes,  and  will  suggest  that  the  United  States  can  not  afford  to 
omit  any  reasonable  work  which  will  offset  this  natural  advantage. 

The  works  best  calculated  to  effect  this,  and  which  also  promise  the  greatest 
value,  aside  from  any  competitive  aspect  of  the  case,  are  the  Niagara  Ship  Canal 
ihe  projected  lakes" and  gulf  water  way  to  the  south;  the  latter  running  from 
Chicago  and  carrying  the  waters  of  Lake  Michigan  along  the  line  of  this  origi- 
nal natural  outlet  down  the  valley  of  the  Illinois  River  to  the  Mississippi  and  the 
Gulf. 

These  two  projects,  which  are  both  strongly  favored,  should  not  be  considered 
as  rivals,  since  many  of  the  reasons  for  one  are  equally  applicable  for  the  other, 


SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER.  35 


and  their  combined  effect,  added  to  the  present  great  growth  of  lake  shipping, 
would  supply  ample  business  for  both. 

The  latter  project  is  most  ably  presented  by  Mr.  L.  E.  Cooley,  civil  engineer,  of 
Chicago,  in  his  publication  of  1888,  containing-  a  great  amount  of  valuable  data, 
and  also  in  a  subsequent  discussion  of  it  published  in  18s9  under  his  direction. 

Already  Canada  is  taking  further  steps  to  improve  the  natural  advantages  of 
her  position  by  completing  a  separate  canal  system.  Not  content  with  using  the 
United  States  Sault  Saint  Mary  Canal.  Canada,  has  now  in  progress  (1890)  a  simi- 
lar canal  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Rapids,  less  than  a  mile  from  ours. 

This  great  work  is  undertaken  despite  the  fact  that  the  United  States  canal  is 
free  of  tolls  to  Canadian  vessels  as  well  as  to  our  own. 

The  contracts  for  the  entire  work  are  now  in  force,  providing  for  an  18-foot 
canal,  with  lock  tiOO  by  85  feet,  operated  by  hydraulic  machinery.  The  contracts 
call  for  completed  work  to  be  ready  for  use  in  May,  1892.* 

When  the  Canadians  are  thus  made  independent  of  our  "Soo"  Canal,  what 
terms  may  our  vessels  expect  at  the  Welland  ? 

On  the  other  hand,  it  has  been  asserted  that  all  tolls  will  then  be  removed 
from  the  Welland.  The  policy  as  regards  United  States  vessels  may  vary  with 
every  change  of  ministry.  No  terminal  arrangements  can  be  made  with  any 
assurance  of  permanence,  so  long  as  we  must  depend  upon  a  Canadian  canal. 

Surveys  and  estimates  have  also  been  made  for  an  almost  direct  line  of  water 
way  from  the  Sault  St.  Marie  and  from  Lake  Michigan  to  Montreal  through  Lake 
Nipissing  and  the  Ottawa  River,  the  latter  having  already  canal  navigation  fort 
9  feet  draft  to  Ottawa  and  for  5  feet  draft  145  miles  beyond,  though  at  present  the 
5-i 00 1  portion  is  not  kept  in  repair. 

A  glance  at  the  map  accompanying  will  show  that  this  line,  lying  far  within 
Canadian  territory,  would  cut  out  Lakes  Huron,  St.  Clair,  Erie,  and  Ontario,  as 
well  as  the  St.  Lawrence  Rapids,  thus  saving  270  miles.  The  distance  by  it  is 
practically  the  same  from  Lake  Superior  to  Montreal  as  by  the  present  lake  route 
from  Lake  Superior  to  Buffalo. 

Its  construction,  even  for  a  S-foot  barge  route,  is  not  probable,  but  the  possi- 
bility exists,  for  the  route  offers  great  advantages.  The  summit  level,  77  feet 
above  Lake  Huron,  has  ample  water  supply,  and  in  the  total  length  of  430  miles, 
only  29  miles  is  canal,  the  rest  being  river  and  lake. 

The  object  in  here  stating,  at  such  length,  the  present  and  prospective  features 
of  the  Canadian  routes,  is  to  show  that  New  York  City,  as  well  as  the  West  and 
Northwest,  indirectly  interested  in  the  effects  of  the  proposed  works. 

The  result  of  Canada's  liberal  policy  is  already  shown  in  the  gradual  increase 
in  Montreal's  share  of  the  total  exports,  while  New  York's  share  as  steadily  de- 
creases. 

The  reverse  has  recently  been  stated  to  be  the  case,  but  these  comparative  per- 
centages are  carefully  computed  from  official  records  of  the  several  chambers  of 
commerce  or  produce  exchanges,  and  show  a  gradual  change,  in  ten  years  past, 
of  4:  per  cent  in  grain  and  5  per  cent  in  Hour,  in  Montreal's  favor. 

This  gain  has  been  made  despite  of  Montreal's  having  "  only  six  months  of  the 
year  of  navigation."  as  stated  by  one  of  her  most  noted  engineers.  The  actual 
average  datest  of  first  arrivals  and  last  departures  for  many  years  past  have  been 
May  2  and  November  23. 

A  stronger  and  fairer  showing  would  have  been  made  if  there  could  have  been 
included  the  Canadian  shipments  brought  in  bond  via  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway 
to  Portland.  Me.,  and  exported  thence  when  Montreal's  harbor  was  sealed  by  ice, 
Portland  being  practically  Montreal's  winter  port. 

^Annual  Report  Canadian  Minister  Railways  and  Canals,  Ottawa,  1890,  p.  111. 
fAnnual  Report  Canadian  Minister  Railways  and  Canals,  Ottawa,  lo'JO,  p.  103. 
J  Annual  Report  Harbor  Commissioners  of  Montreal,  1667. 


3G      SHIP  CANAL  FB€>M  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER. 

Comparison  of  exports  of  grain  and  flour  from  Neiv  York  City  and  from  Montreal, 
showing  the  percentage  of  the  sum  total  which  each  city  exports, 

PERCENTAGE  OF  SUM  TOTAL. 
[Grain,  bushels  ;  flour,  barrels.] 


Tears. 


Grain. 


Flour. 


New  York,  j  Montreal.  New  York.  Montreal. 


1889 
11-81 
1882 
1883 
1884 
3S35 
1888 
1887 
1888 
18b9 


84 

831 

83| 

82 

83 

83i 

77 

80 

82 

80 


16 

16i 

17i 

18 

17 

m 

23 
20 
18 
20 


85 

87| 
85f 
85 

sai 

841 
82 

ail 

82i 

in 


A  further  similar  comparison  of  the  respective  percentages  of  total  exports  of 
New  York  City  and  of  the  other  North  Atlantic  ports,  including  Montreal,  shows 
even  more  clearly  that  no  effort  can  be  spared  if  New  York  is  to  keep  her  pres- 
ent supremacy. 

The  percentages  only  are  given,  as  the  fluctuations  of  yearly  quantities,  with  the 
varying  supply  and  demand,  are  less  readily  compared. 

Comparison  of  grain  and  flour  exports  from  New  York,  Boston,  Philadelphia.  Balti- 
more, and  Montreal,  showing  the  percentage  of  their  sum  total  which  each  city  ex- 
ports. 

PERCENTAGE  OF  SUM  TOTAL.  OF  GRAIN. 
[Bushels,] 


New 
York. 


Boston. 


Phila-  Bal- 
delphia.  timore. 


Mon- 
treal. 


1880 
1881 
1882 
18S3 
1884 
1885 
1886 
1887 
1«88 
1839 


49% 

50i 

55! 

49* 

52 

53 

49$ 

521 

5G 


13 

21 

lOi 

7-1 
9f 

215 

2d| 

24 

6§ 

23* 

10 

19' 

» 

22A 

10A 

Tr4 

4 

m 

51 

24 1 

PERCENTAGE  OF  SUM  TOTAL  OF  FLOUR. 
[Barrels.] 


New 
York. 


Boston. 


Phila- 
delphia. 


Balti- 
more. 


1881, 

18S3 
1884, 
1885 
1886 
1887 
1>M 


624 

66  { 

62} 

57' 

45 

471 

4U 

38$ 

40* 

40i 


s 

5 
14 

20 
281 
26 1 
27| 


SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER.  37 


It  has  been  objected  that  the  proposed  20-foot  Niaerara  Ship  Canal  would  pass 
the  great  upper  lake  steamers  to  Lake  Ontario,  only  to  see  their  cargoes  go  down 
the  St.  Lawrence  to  Montreal,  instead  of  through  the  Oswego  and  Erie  Canal  to 
New  York. 

As  has  already  been  stated,  the  navigable  depth  of  the  St.  Lawrence  River 
and  canals  to  Montreal  is  now  limited  to  9  feet,  with  an  ultimate  proposed  depth 
of  14  feet,  to  which  portions  have  been  deepened.  A  20-foot  Canadian  system 
would  be  impracticable,  having  been  estimated  to  cost  $70,000,000  additional; 
while  deep-water  navigation,  among  its  Thousand  Islands  and  its  thousands  of 
of  submerged  rocks,  would  require  most  skillful  pilotage  in  clearest  weather. 

These  dangers  to  navigation  on  the  St.  Lawrence  increase  vastly  in  number 
for  any  additional  drought. 

Twenty-foot  vessels  which  might  pass  our  canal,  and  desire  to  transfer  at 
Kingston  to  barges  for  Montreal,  would  be  prevented  by  the  same  rebate  system 
which  now  operates  so  effectively  against  us  on  the  Welland  Canal. 

So  that  there  are  both  physical  and  financial  sureties  that  New  York,  as  well 
as  the  West  and  Northwest,  could  lose  nothing,  but  must  gain  much,  by  the  pro- 
posed Niagara  Ship  Canal. 

It  is  now  fortunate  that  its  construction  was  not  begun  in  186",  upon  the  in- 
efficient scale  then  proposed,  which  is  practically  that  of  the  present  Welland 
Canal,  which  was  outgrown  before  it  was  finished.  The  canal,  when  built  upon 
the  present  project,  will  pass  the  largest  steamers  which  can  navigate  the  lakes. 

These  steamers  will  be  able  to  place  their  cargoes  at  Oswego  twenty  hours 
after  passing  Buffalo.  This  assumes  a  much  quicker  passage  of  the  proposed 
canal  than  is  possible  or  is  permittad  in  the  Welland  Canal,  whose  passage  is  not 
allowed  to  be  made  in  less  than  twenty-two  hours.  This  appears  to  be  fixed  on 
a  basis  of  5  miles  per  hour  speed  and  forty  minutes  per  lock. 

The  shorter  time  here  estimated  for  is  based  upon  the  improved  methods  pro- 
posed. The  lockages  will  be  fewer  and  each  will  be  quicker  by  reason  of  the 
hydraulic  appliances  and  the  methods  of  filling  and  emptying  which  have  proved 
so  perfect  at  the  Sault  St.  Mary  lock.  This  at  the  Sault  requires  the  move- 
ment of  five  times  the  water  moved  in  a  Welland  lockage,  but  it  is  effected 
quietly  in  an  average  of  twelve  minutes  for  each  filling  or  emptying:  while  an 
additional  twenty-eight  minutes  is  required  to  haul  in  and  to  place  the  two  to 
four  vessels  which  fill  the  lock  to  close  and  open  the  gates  and  to  haul  the  ves- 
sels out — in  all.  an  average  of  forty  minutes  per  lockage. 

The  writer  is  indebted  to  Gen.  O.  M.  Poe,  U.  S.  Engineers,  who  has  charge  of 
the  canal  and  is  building  the  new  lock,  for  these  details  of  operation. 

In  the  Niagara  locks,  one-fourth  smaller,  a  single  steamer  will  readily  pass  in 
thirty  minutes. 

The  earth  slopes  being  paved,  speed  can  be  made  on  the  two  long  levels  of  6 
and  12  miles  each,  which  form  three-fourths  of  the  total  length. 

The  Niagara  Canal  can  be  thus  passed  in  eleven  hours,  and  the  run  of  110 
miles  to  Oswego  can  be  made  in  eight  hours.  At  Oswego,  the  cargoes  trans- 
ferred to  canal-boats  are  then  145  miles  nearer  to  New  York  than  at  Buffalo,  and 
have  168  miles  less  of  canal  to  traverse  to  reach  the  Hudson. 

The  average  of  many  trips  to  the  Hudson  of  steam  canal-boats  with  consort, 
shows  six  days  from  Buffalo  against  four  days  from  Oswego. 

This  shows  a  clear  saving  of  one  and  one-fifth  days,  or  20  per  cent  of  the  time 
of  the  present  trip  from  Buffalo. 

Having  two  independent  and  competing  water  routes  available,  shippers  would 
also  save  the  present  excessive  elevator  charges  at  Buffalo. 

It  is  no  part  of  the  present  Niagara  Ship  Canal  project  to  provide  for  a  canal 
of  similar  size  through  New  York  State  to  tide  water,  as  has  been  estimated  for 
at  various  times,  by  which  lake  steamers  should  carry  their  cargoes  to  New  York 
Or  to  Europe. 

Such  projects  call  for  impossible  expenditures,  and  ignore  the  fact  that  dif- 
ferent waters  demand  different  types  of  vessel.  The  lakes,  the  canal  and  river, 
and  the  ocean,  each  have  their  distinctive  style  and  equipment. 

Such  a  water  way,  if  built,  would  not  be  so  used.  Steamers  fitted  to  safely 
weather  lake  storms  would  not  carry  their  costly  and  idle  equipment  through 
360  miles  of  canal  and  river  to  New  York.  Barges  of  one-tenth  the  cost  would 
do  the  work  better  and  cheaper,  while  much  of  the  expensive  construction  needed 
on  the  ocean  would  be  superfluous  on  the  lalfes. 

The  present  7-«bot  canal  will  be  fully  equal  to  vastly  greater  business  than  it 
has  ever  don^when  the  double  length  locks— 220  feet  long  by  19  feet  wide — now 
in  construction  on  the  Oswego  and  Erie  canals,  are  completed,  and  when  the 


38      SHIP  CANAL  FEOM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER. 


present  prism  is  cleared  of  accumulations  and  weeds  and  its  slopes  paved,  as 
has  been  repeatedly  urged  by  the  State  engineer.  Or  if  enlarged  to  9  feet  depth 
at  the  locks,  with  10  feet  water  way,  the  present  canal  would  pass  the  modern 
McDougal  steel  barges  or  other  canal  boats  of  ample  size  to  do  most  efficient 
and  profitable  service. 

For  such  enlargement  of  the  Oswego,  Oneida  Lake  and  Erie  Canal  moderate 
estimates  of  cost  have  been  made  and  ample  local  water  supply  found.* 

The  military  advantage  to  the  United  States  of  being  able  to  bring  gunboats 
through  from  New  York  Harbor  is  obvious.  Gunboats  of  12  feet  draft  could 
readily  be  lightened  of  their  armament  and  stores  to  pass  the  9-foot  canal  and 
from  it,  through  the  Niagara  ship  canal,  the  chain  of  lakes  could  be  com- 
manded, with  the  effect  of  saving,  in  case  of  merely  threatened  hostilities,  much 
greater  sums  than  the  canal  would  cost. 

The  only  gunboats  which  can  now  reach  the  lakes  are  those  which  may  come 
up  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  We Hand  Canals,  by  the  permission  of  Canada,  who 
thus  has  unquestioned  command  of  all  our  utterly  defenseless  lake  commerce 
and  cities. 

Simply  regarded  as  a  military  work,  the  Niagara  ship  canal  would  be  an  eco- 
nomical substil  ate  for  otherwise  needed  defenses  of  the  northern  frontier.  But 
unlike  most  military  works,  it  would  be  still  more  valuable  for  peaceful  commerce 

March  1,  1890. 


Appendix  D, 

REPORT  OP  CAPT.   CARL  P.  PALFREY,  CORPS  OP  ENGINEERS, 

U.  S.  A. 

[Reprinted  from  the  Appendix  of  the  Annual  Report  of  the  Chief  of  Engineers  for  1889,  pag°i  £434.] 

WATER  WAY  AROUND  NIAGARA  PALLS  OP  CAPACITY  AND  FACILITIES  SUF- 
FICIENT TO  FLOAT  MERCHANT  SHIPS  AND  SHIPS  OF  WAR  OF  MODERN 
BUILD,  DRAWING  20  FEET  OF  WATER,  SAID  WATERWAY  TO  COMMENCE  IN 
A  NAVIGABLE  PART  OF  NIAGARA  RIVER,  IN  NIAGARA  COUNTY,  NEW  YORK, 
AT  OR  NEAR  TONA WANDA,  AND  TO  END  IN  THE  NAVIGABLE  WATERS  OF 
SAID  RIVER  BELOW  SAID  FALLS,  OR  IN  NAVIGABLE  WATERS  CONNECTED 
THEREWITH. 

United  States  Engineer  Office,  August  19, 1889. 

General:  I  have  the  honor  to  report  as  follows  upon  revision  of  surveys  and 
estimates  for  waterway  around  Niagara  Falls,  New  York,  heretofore  made  by 
Col.  C.  E.  Blunt.  Corps  of  Engineers. 

The  river  and  harbor  actof  August  11, 1888,  under  which  this  revision  is  made, 
contains  the  following  paragraph: 

"Water  way  around  Niagara  Palls  of  capacity  and  facilities  sufficient  to  float 
merchant  ships  and  ships  of  war  of  modern  build,  drawing  20  feet  of  water,  said 
water  way  to  commence  in  a  navigable  part  of  Niagara  River,  in  Niagara  County, 
at  or  near  Tonawanda,  and  to  end  in  the  navigable  waters  of  said  river  below 
said  falls,  or  in  navigable  waters  connected  therewith.  For  the  purposes  hereof 
the  Secretary  of  War,  in  his  discretion,  may  take  into  consideration,  and  re- 
vise the  surveys  and  estimates  of  such  a  water  way  heretofore  made  by  Brevet- 
Colonel  C.  E.  Blunt,  of  the  United  States  Corps  of  Engineers,  incompliance  with 
a  joint  resolution  of  the  Congress  approved  March  twenty-second,  eighteen  hun- 
dred and  sixty-seven.'' 

The  canal  for  which  Col.  Blunt  made  surveys  and  estimates  was  of  14  feet 
depth,  with  lock-chambers  275  by  46  feet.  His  surveys  covered  six  lines,  some  of 
which  presented  great  difficulty  in  the  ascent  of  the  Niagara  Terrace  even  with 
these  dimensions,  and  only  one,  the  longest,  offered  any  marked  natural  advan- 
tage. None  of  these  is  impossible  with  the  dimensions  now  required;  routes  No. 
1,  2,  2a,  3,  and  5a  do  not  come  within  the  description  of  the  act  above  cited,  the 


*  Report  of  the  late  Mr.  James  S.  Lawrence,  C.  E.,  to  Maj.  (now  Col.)  John  M. 
Wilson,  Corps  of  Engineers,  An.  Rep.  Ch.  Engr.  U.  S.  A.,  1875,  part  2,  p.  566. 
Also  report  Mr.  C.  A.  Olmstead,  C.  E.,  to  canal  commissioners,  1871. 


SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER.  39 


last  being  without  Niagara  County,  the  others  opening  upon  Niagara  River  9 
miles  below  the  present  termination  of  a  20-foot  depth.  No  estimates  upon  these 
are  therefore  presented.  Examination  of  the  ground  and  application  of  the  pres- 
ent project  to  the  profiles  of  these  routes  have  shown  me  that  they  offer  no  ad- 
vantage either  in  expense  of  construction  or  efficiency  of  service.  Route  No.  4 
also  opens  upon  the  river  at  a  point  below  the  present  termination  of  20-foot 
depth,  but  near  enough  to  it  to  come  reasonably  within  the  terms  of  the  act. 
Of  all  the  routes  surveyed  by  Col.  Blunt  it  is  the  only  one  remaining  for  compari- 
son with  route  No.  5.  Projects  and  estimates  upon  these  two  routes  are  there- 
fore presented. 

The  dimensions  of  canals  and  locks  adopted  and  used  in  ail  the  estimates  aro 
as  follows: 

Depth. 


Width  of  canal  at  bottom.   100 

Depth  of  canal    20i 

Width  of  canal  at  water-surface  in  rock     100 

Width  of  canal  at  water-surface  in  earth   _   150 

Length  of  lock-chamber    400 

Width  of  lock-chamber..   80 

Width  of  gates    60 

Depth  over  miter-sill   21 

Lift,  in  general   18 


I  assume  that  the  lock  at  Sault  St.  Marie,  Mich.,  completed  in  1881,  as  the 
model  of  locks  and  their  works,  and  also  assume  that  the  canal  will  be  used  by 
vessels  either  self-propelling  or  towed  by  tugs.    All  slopes  are  therefore  paved. 

The  sections  herewith  presented  show  the  form  of  cutting  upon  which  esti- 
mates are  based.  I  have  arranged  upon  both  routes  for  the  ascent  of  the  Niagara 
Terrace  by  a  system  of  locks  400  feet  long  and  80  feet  wide,  and  short  levels  or 
basins  500  feet  long  and  100  feet  wide.  With  this  system,  for  draft  of  14  feet, 
the  lock  can  be  filled  fr9m  its  own  basin  and  the  locknextabove  without  danger 
from  grounding;  for  draft  of  16  feet  the  lock  can  be  filled  from  its  own  basin 
and  the  basin  next  above  without  danger  of  grounding  in  either:  for  draft  of 
of  17  feet,  from  its  own  basin  and  the  two  above  without  danger  of  grounding  in 
any. 

Upon  route  No.  4  this  gives  fairly  efficient  service  with  single  locks,  but  for 
full  efficient  double  locks  are  still  needed  upon  this  route.  Upon  route  No.  5, 
by  virtue  of  a  level  of  2, 100  feet  midway  of  the  ascent,  efficient  service  can  be 
had  from  single  locks. 

At  the  lake  end  of  each  route  is  a  shallow  natural  harbor,  with  harbor  im- 
provements on  a  scale  utterly  inadequate  to  the  needs  of  this  water  way. 

At  each  I  estimate  for  a  channel  200  feet  wide  to  the  deep  water  of  the  lake, 
protected  by  piers  of  cribwork  filled  with  stone.  At  each  harbor  the  inner  500 
feet  of  this  channel  is  in  water  fully  protected  from  storm,  being  part  of  the  nat- 
ural harbor. 

At  each  lake  front  the  bottom  of  the  lake  is  of  a  soft  red  stone,  which  can  be 
worked  by  the  dredge.  A  similar  formation  at  Oak  Orchard  has  been  removed 
by  dredging  to  a  depth  of  10  feet  at  extreme  low  water  (12  feet  at  ordinary  low 
water),  at  a  contract  price  of  $1.10  per  cubic  yard. 

The  requirements  of  bridging  are  not  materially  changed  since  the  date  of 
Col.  Blunt's report.  The  surface  width  of  the  canal  is  unchanged,  and  I  have  held, 
where  there  is  any  change,  to  lower  levels  than  he.  In  the  wide  range  of  esti- 
mate open  in  this  matter  I  have  held  to  his. 

ROUTE  NO.  4.— WILSON  OR  TWELVE  MILE  CREEK  LINE. 

Length,  18.35  miles;  18  lifts;  estimated  cost  with  single  locks,  $24,201,550;  esti- 
mated cost  with  double  locks,  $29,347,900. 

"  This  line  commences  at  the  mouth  of  Twelve  Mile  Creek,  and  following  its 
course  about  half  <*  mile  the  line  reaches  the  table-land,  and  thence  in  a  south- 
erly course  for  9i  miles  over  gently  rising  ground,  very  favorable  for  the  loca- 
tion of  a  canal,  it  reaches  the  foot  of  the  mountain  ridge.  At  this  point  the  as- 
cent commences,  and  a  second  table-land  is  passed.  Continuing  a  southerly 
course,  the  line  crosses  the  Pekin  road,  and  half  a  mile  farther  the  summit  is 
reached,  the  line  descending  into  the  valley  of  Cayuga  Creek  to  the  Lockport 
and  Niagara  Falls  Railroad.  From  thence  it  takes  a  southwest  course  along 
the  valley  of  the  creek  to  Bergholtz ;  thence  nearly  on  the  same  course  to  its 
H.  Rep.  3  33 


40      SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  KIVER. 


termination  at  a  point  on  the  Niagara  River  2  miles  east  of  Cayuga  Creek,  the 
whole  distance  being- 18.35  miles." 

Beginning  at  the  mouth  of  Twelve  Mile  Creek,  this  line  rises  with  nine  lifts 
and  with  levels  ranging  from  2,000  to  9,750  feet,  to  the  base  of  the  cliff.  This 
portion  of  the  line  is  entirely  in  earth-cutting.  The  natural  surface  of  the 
ground  is  fairly  uniform.  It  is  highly  cultivated  in  wheat  and  fruit.  The  as- 
cent of  the  cliff  is  made  by  nine  lifts  of  17i  feet  each,  with  levels  uniformly  500 
feet  long  between,  thus  reaching  the  summit  level,  fed  from  the  Niagara  River. 
The  cliff  is  abrupt,  with  a  thin  cover  of  earth  over  most  of  its  face.  The  crest  is 
at  about  60  feet  above  water  level.  There  is  a  secondary  terrace  about  two  lifts 
below  the  summit  level.  It  could  be  utilized  for  a  level  only  by  giving  up  the  in- 
termediate basins  through  the  whole  system  and  incurring  the  expense  of  double 
locks,  and  even  then,  leaving  three-quarters  of  the  ascent  unbroken,  it  would 
add  little  to  efficiency.  On  the  summit  level  this  line  is  very  expensive  by  the 
depth  of  the  rock  cut.  The  system  of  locks  and  basins  gives  on  this  line  a  mod- 
erate efficiency,  with  single  locks,  for  draft  of  14  feet.  For  the  deeper  drafts, 
although  passing  on  the  incline  is  possible,  with  careful  management,  at  sev- 
eral points,  the  service  of  the  upper  locks  must  often  be  sacrificed  to  the  need  of 
replenishing  the  lower.  For  full  efficiency  double  locks  are  necessary,  which 
adds  largely  to  the  expense  of  the  line.  The  locks  to  be  doubled  are  all  in  rock- 
cutting,  where  masonry  is  reduced  to  the  minimum,  and  the  expense  of  double 
looks  in  these  circumstances  is  nearly  double  that  of  single  ones. 

In  the  Niagara  River  this  line  requires  a  dredged  channel  about  16,700  feet 
long.  This  is  estimated  as  in  sand  and  gravel,  as  the  rock-beds  are  uniform,  and 
no  rock  appears  in  the  bed  of  the  river  for  many  miles. 

One  railroad  bridge  is  required  on  this  line  not  included  in  Col.  Blunt's  esti- 
mate. The  Rome,  Water  town  and  Ogdensburg  Railroad  crosses  the  line  at  a 
level  little  above  the  water-surface. 

The  lake  harbor  estimated  for  includes  a  moderate  area  of  sheltered  mooring. 
Should  commercial  needs  require  it,  a  basin  can  be  obtained  by  dredging  in  Wil- 
son Harbor. 

ROUTE  NO.  5.— OL.COTT  OR  EIGHTEEN-MILE  CREEK  ROUTE. 
Length,  25.28  miles;  lifts,  18;  estimated  cost,  $23,617,900. 

"The  line  of  survey  begins  at  the  head  of  Olcott  Harbor,  on  Lake  Ontario,  18 
miles  east  from  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  River,  following  the  channel  of  Eigh- 
teen-Mile Creek  (the  course  of  which  is  nearly  south  and  very  direct)  for  3£  miles; 
ascending  gradually,  reaches  in  1£  miles  the  table-land,  over  which  it  passes  for 
5t  miles  nearly  south  to  the  foot  of  the  mountain  ridge,  when  it  enters  another 
valley  or  gulf  2i  miles  in  length,  varying  in  width  from  80  to  300  feet  on  the  bot- 
tom, which  is  gradually  ascending  with  steep  banks  on  both  sides;  this  is  followed 
to  its  head,  where  the  mountain  ridge  is  encountered.  From  the  head  of  the  gulf 
the  line  follows  a  slight  depression  in  the  ridge,  leading  in  a  tolerably  direct 
course  west  of  south  4  miles  to  the  east  end  of  Beach  Ridge;  thence  by  an  almost 
direct  line  nearly  southwest  to  the  Niagara  River,  opposite  the  north  end  of 
Tonawanda  Island,  about  seven-eighths  of  a  mile  north  of  the  mouth  of  Tona- 
wanda  Creek,  making  the  whole  distance  25  miles  22.34  chains." 

Beginning  at  the  mouth  of  Eighteen-Mile  Creek  this  line  rises  by  seven  lifts  to 
the  entrance  of  a  remarkable  gorge  in  the  face  of  the  cliff  near  Lockport,  locally 
known  as  "The  Gulf." 

In  this  part  of  the  line  there  is  a  little  rock  cutting  in  the  bed  of  the  creek  and 
at  leaving  it;  thereafter  it  is  all  in  earth  cutting.  It  has  the  advantage  of  one 
level  nearly  6  miles  long,  in  which  good  speed  can  be  maintained.  The  country 
traversed  after  leaving  the  creek  is  in  part  cultivated  in  wheat;  in  part,  hay 
land.  "The  Gulf"  offers  a  comparatively  easy  ascent  of  the  cliff  by  four  lifts 
with  levels  or  basins  500  feet  long ;  then  one  lift  with  basin  800  feet  long ;  then 
one  lift  and  level  2,100  feet  long ;  then  five  lifts  having  intermediate  basins  500 
feet  long,  to  the  summit  level.  On  the  summit  level  this  line  is  free  from  rock 
cutting  after  less  than  3  miles. 

On  this  line  efficient  service  can  be  had  from  single  locks.  The  level  midway 
of  the  ascent  is  an  important  aid.  For  14-foot  draft  one  lock  full  of  water  can 
be  taken  from  the  800-foot  level  and  two  from  the  2,100-foot  level  for  the  service  of 
the  lower  locks  before  drawing  from  the  summit  level  through  the  upper  locks  be- 
comes necessary.  For  16  and  17  foot  drafts  one  lock  full  can  be  so  drawn  from  the 
2,100-foot  level.  The  terrain  of  the  gorge  makes  it  easy  to  provide  a  storage  basin 
of  very  moderate  depth,  into  which  water  may  be  alio  wed  to  fall  from  the  summit 
level  and  i  thence  drawn  off  without  inconvenient  head  to  the  2,100-foot  level. 


SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER.  41 


This  would  leave  the  upper  set  of  five  locks  entirely  free  from  the  service  of  re- 
plenishing- the  lower  set,  and  would  add  greatly  to  the  efficiency  of  the  system. 

In  the  Niagara  River  this  line  requires  a  dredged  channel  about  5.0CH  I  feet  Long. 
The  20-foot  depth  appears  again  farther  down  the  river.  The  bar  between 
White's  Island  and  the  mainland  is  therefore  estimated  as  sand  and  gravel. 

The  bridge,  of  the  Rome,  Watertown  and  Ogdensburg  Railroad,  not  built  at 
the  time  of  Colonel  Blunt's  report,  crosses  this  line  where  it  occupies  the  b  d  of 
Eighteen-Mile  Creek  at  a  level  far  above  the  water-surface.  One-half  the  cost 
of  a  bridge  is  estimated  for  changing  this  to  a  swing-bridge. 

The  lake  harbor  works  estimated  for  include  a  moderate  area  of  sheltered 
mooring.  Should  commercial  needs  require  it,  a  basin  can  be  obtained  by  dredg- 
ing in  Olcott  Harbor. 

Detailed  estimates  upon  the  two  routes  are  appended. 

Profiles  and  sections  are  herewith  presented. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

Carl  F.  Palfrey, 
Captain  of  Engineers, 

The  Chief  of  Engineers,  U.  S.  Army, 

Washington,  D.  C 


Appendix  B. 

LETTER  FROM  VERPLANCK  COLVIN,  NEW  YORK  STATE  SUPERIN- 
TENDENT OF  ADIRONDACK  SURVEY. 

Albany,  December  28, 1891. 
My  Dear  Sir:  I  have  your  letter  of  the  26th  instant  relating  to  proposed  ship 
canal  to  connect  the  Great  Lakes  with  the  Hudson  River.    Two  routes  may  be 
mentioned. 

(1)  The  route  via  the  Mohawk  Valley,  Oswego,  Lake  Ontario,  and  Niagara 
Canal  to  Lake  Erie. 

(2)  The  route  via  the  Upper  Hudson  Valley,  Lake  Champlain,  and  canal 
along  the  Canadian  frontier  to  the  St.  Lawrence  River;  thence  via  Lake  Onta- 
rio and  the  Niagara  Canal  to  Lake  Erie. 

The  Valley  of  Black  River,  near  or  along  the  Black  River  Canal,  is  inadmis- 
sible as  a4-oute  owing  to  the  great  elevation  of  the  summit,  which  is  1,120  feet 
above  tide:  rendering  over  100  locks  necessary.  There  would  also  be  much  ex- 
pensive construction,  while  floods  on  Black  River  would  make  it  an  undersirable 
channel. 

Considering  the  two  routes  first  mentioned,  we  have — 

(1)  The  Champlain  route. — This  line  would  have  the  least  engineering  difficul- 
ties, but  would,  probably,  have  to  traverse  a  portion  of  Canada  to  take  advantage 
of  the  best  location.  For  a  national  United  States  canal  this  difficulty  might 
prove  insuperable. 

This  route  has  no  disadvantages  except  the  political  or  national  impediment, 
which  survey  may  prove  not  to  exist.  The  maximum  elevation  on  the  Chain- 
plain  route  is  the  height  of  LaKe  Erie:  the  only  divide  crossed  is  on  the  Upper 
Hudson,  150  feet  above  tide.    The  elevations  are  as  follows: 


Feet. 

Hudson  Valley  summit       150 

Fall  to  Lake  Champlain     54 

Rise  to  Lake  Ontario-        151 

Rise  to  Lake  Erie    326 

Total  rise  and  fall   G81 

Total  number  of  locks,  45. 

Distances  by  Champlain  route  would  be — 

Miles. 

Canal,  Troy  to  Lake  Champlain.  __      65 

Navigation  to  Lake  Champlain    124 

Canal  to  the  St.  Lawrence   —    90 

Navigation,  St.  Lawrence  River   92 

Navigation,  Lake  Ontario      150 

Canal  at  Niagara  River     25 

Total  distance   546 


42      SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER. 


Canal  to  be  constructed   -   ISO 

River  and  lake  navigation  366 

Total  as  above  -  _  546 

Time  by  steamer  from  Troy  to  Lake  Erie,  two  and  one-half  to  three  days. 

This  is  a  magnificent  route  with  abundance  of  water;  hardly  any  elevations  to 
overcome;  no  cities  to  interfere  by  large  bridges;  and  the  canal  would  be  cheap 
and  easy  of  construction. 

(2)  The  improved  "Erie"  route,  or  Mohawk  Valley  Canal,  from  Troy  via 
Oswego  and  Lake  Ontario  to  Lake  Erie.    On  this  line  the  elevations  are  as  fol- 


lows : 

Feet. 

Mohawk  Valley  summit   427 

Pall  to  Lake  Ontario  -   180 

Rise  to  Lake  Erie  _ _  326 

Total  rise  and  fall  933 

Total  number  of  locks,  62. 

Distances  by  the  Mohawk  Valley  route  are — 

Miles. 

Canal,  Troy  to  Oswego  195 

Navigation,  Lake  Ontario  130 

Niagara  Canal       25 

Total  distance,  Oswego  route  350 

Total  canal  to  be  constructed  _  220 


This  route  has  seventeen  more  locks  than  the  Champlain  route,  which  in- 
creases time  and  expense,  though  the  distance  being  less,  decreases  the  time 
consumed  by  each  voyage. 

The  time  by  this  route,  by  steamer  from  Troy  to  Lake  Erie,  about  two  days 
for  large  steamers  or  men  of  war. 

This  route  will  have  a  sufficient  water  supply,  for  suitable  reservoirs  can  be 
arranged  to  furnish  all  the  water  needed.  It  is  a  perfectly  feasible  route,  located 
entirely  in  the  State  of  New  York. 


COST  OF  SURVEYS. 

I  would  suggest  a  reconnaissance  of  the  northern  route,  via  Lake  Champlain  and 

the  St.  Lawrence  River,  to  ascertain  whether  the  canal  can  not  be  kept  within 
the  Unit  3d  States,  as  this  route  would  be  much  the  cheapest  in  construction,  40 
miles  less  of  canal  being  required,  with  minimum  lockage,  and  nearly  as  quick 
a  route  as  the  shorter  lines,  yet  costing  at  least  $4,000,000  less  than  any  other 

route. 

For  this  survey,  determination  of  possible  location  in  United  States,  I  would 
suggest  an  appropriation  of  $17,000. 

If  the  195-mile  line  along  the  Mohawk  Valley,  from  Troy  to  Oswego,  should  be  ac- 
curately surveyed  to  determine  the  best  possible  location  for  ship  canal — inde- 
p  ndently  of  the  Erie  Canal  and  avoiding  passage  through  cities  and  large  towns, 
whose  street  bridges  would  be  a  hindrance  to  traffic — then  a  great  deal  of  care- 
ful surveying  would  have  to  be  done. 

A  trial  line  could  be  run  for  about  $30,000  to  $35,000,  or,  if  the  25  miles  around 
Niagara  Falls  be  included,  then  from  $35,000  to  $40,000.  Based  upon  the  trial 
lines,  some  secondary  lines  would  be  needed  to  better  or  improve  the  first  line 
in  places. 

The  final  survey  for  estimates  of  quantities  and  cost  of  construction  would  not 
probably  follow  precisely  any  of  the  preliminary  lines,  but  would  be  a  line  re- 
sultant from  the  prior  investigations. 

The  final  survey  for  estimates  along  the  located  line  would  cost  about $60, 000 

To  which  adding  cost  of  preliminary  surveys    40,  000 

And  reconnaissance  surveys  of  the  Champlain  route     17,  000 


Total  cost  of  all  surveys. 


117,000 


SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER.  43 


This  would  not  include  cost  of  engineering-  supervision  during-  construction, 
but  would  give  the  location  of  the  several  ship-canal  routes  available  through 
the  State  of  New  York. 

The  time  required  for  these  surveys  would  be  between  one  and  two  years. 
The  work  would  have  to  be  divided  into  four  or  five  divisions,  under  one  gen- 
eral direction,  which,  with  its  share  of  the  general  expense  of  supervision,  cost- 
ing about  $1,000  per  month. 

Five  divisions,  at  $1,000  per  month  for  twelve  months   $60,  000 

Four  divisions,  next  year,  twelve  months   48,  000 

Allowance  for  special  work  __  _._   9,  000 

Total,  as  before  117,000 

A  poorer  quality  of  work  might  be  had  for  less  money,  but  the  determination 
of  a  final  route  with  complete  estimates  for  quantities  could  not  be  made  at  less 
cost. 

Yours  very  truly, 

Verplanck  Colvin. 

Hon.  H.  W.  Bentley, 

House  of  Bepresentatives,  Washington,  D.  C. 


Appendix  F. 

THE  RADICAL  ENLARGEMENT  OF  THE  ARTIFICIAL  WATER  WAT 
BETWEEN  THE  LAKES  AND  THE  HUDSON  RIVER. 

[A  paper  by  E.  Sweet,  M.  Am.  Soc.  C.  E.,  read  at  the  Annual  Convention,  June  10, 1884.] 
WITH  DISCUSSION. 

The  Erie  Canal,  conceived  by  the  genius  and  achieved  by  the  energy  of  De 
Witt  Clinton,  was.  during  the  second  quarter  of  this  century,  the  most  potent  in- 
fluence of  American  progress  and  civilization.  It  developed  the  Northwest  by 
giving  an  outlet  to  the  commerce  of  the  Great  Lakes,  and  it  made  New  York  the 
Empire  State,  and  New  York  City  the  imperial  mart  of  the  New  World. 

For  twenty  years  after  its  size  was  increased  to  its  present  capacity  it  also  con- 
tinued to  play  a  prominent  part  in  our  internal  commerce.  Contemporaneous, 
however,  with  its  enlargement  began  that  wonderful  development  of  the  rail- 
way system  of  transportation  which  has  since  absorbed  the  skill  and  resources 
of  our  profession,  the  best  executive  and  administrative  talent,  and  much  of  the 
available  capital  of  our  country,  to  the  exclusion  of  water  routes,  so  that  our  neg- 
lected canal,  unchanged  for  thirty  years  except  as  to  the  gradual  deterioration 
of  its  structure,  with  unimproved  equipment  and  modes  of  operation,  despite 
the  liberal  policy  of  the  State,  is  gradually  losing  its  capacity  for  usefulness  and 
its  influence  on  the  problem  of  transportation.  Thirty  years' ago  the  Erie  Canal 
carried  nine-tenths  of  the  freight  traffic  between  Buffalo  and  New  York,  while 
now  it  carries  less  than  one-fifth  of  it.  In  view  of  these  facts  thoughtful  men 
begin  to  ask  themselves  the  question  what  must  its  future  bo. 

For  some  years  friends  of  this  canal  have  urged  minor  improvements  which, 
if  promptly  adopted,  would  have  measureably  increased  its  capacity  and  economy 
and  prolonged  its  ascendency,  but  its  inadequacy  to  meet  the  present  and  pros- 
pective wants  of  the  Northwestern  commerce  seeking  the  East  and  the  sea  have 
now  become  so  manifest  and  so  great  as  to  demand  a  far  more  radical  and  exten- 
sive improvement. 

It  is  clear  to  me  that  the  canal,  to  become  the  permanent  highway  of  this  com- 
merce, must  have  sufficient  capacity  to  float  the  largest  vessels  navigating  th^ 
Great  Lakes  from  Lake  Erie  to  the  deep  waters  of  the  Hudson,  and  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  the  draft  of  the  lake  vessels  is  now  limited  by  the  dimensions  of  St. 
Mary  and  St.  Clair  Canals,  which  may  hereafter  be  enlarged,  the  locks  of  our 
canal  should  be  large  enough  to  provide  for  the  probable  increase  in  the  size  of 
lake  vessels. 

The  canal  should  be  at  least  18  feet  deep,  and  100  feet  wide  at  bottom,  and  its 
iocks  should  be  450  feet  long  and  60  feet  wide.    The  successful  occupation  of  the 


44      SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RiVER. 


canal  thus  enlarged  requires  that  it  should  receive  its  water  from  the  lake  and 
discharge  it  into  the  Hudson  on  account  of  the  insufficiency  of  water  tributary 
to  its  route  to  supply  it. 

This  and  various  topographical  and  economic  considerations  render  a  radical 
change  in  parts  of  the  route  and  profile  of  the  old  canal  essential. 

These  changes  are  entirely  practicable  and  involve  no  very  serious  difficulties. 

The  essential  change  in  profile  consists  in  extending  the  Rome  level  westward 
to  Lock  57,  between  Newark  and  Lyons,  in  Wayne  County,  throwing  out  the  locks 
47  to  56,  inclusive.  This  change  in  profile  can  be  effected  by  swinging  the  route 
to  the  southward,  near  Newark,  crossing  the  Canandaigua  outlet  and  occupying 
ground  of  the  proper  elevation  along  the  south  side  of  Clyde  River,  and  crossing 
the  Seneca  River  at  the  narrowest  part  of  its  valley,  which  is  near  its  junction 
with  the  outlet  of  Cayuga  Lake,  from  whence  it  should  gradually  approach  the 
present  route  of  the  canal,  and  connect  with  or  cross  it  just  east  of  the  city  of 
Syracuse. 

The  only  serious  difficulty  encountered  on  this  route  is  the  crossing  of  the  Seneca 
River,  where  the  water  surface  of  the  canal  must  be  nearly  50  feet  above  that  of 
the  river,  and  for  nearly  2  miles  over  40  feet  above  the  surf  ace  upon  which  its  em- 
bankment must  be  built. 

This  change  of  route,  to  secure  a  continuously  descending  profile  from  the  lake 
to  the  Hudson  River,  is  the  only  deviation  from  the  route  of  the  old  canal  that 
is  absolutely  necessary,  but  I  think  the  construction  would  be  simplified  and 
cheapened,  and  the  best  possible  waterway  secured,  by  the  adoption  of  an  entirely 
new  route  from  Syracuse  eastward. 

Lower  ground  can  be  obtained  for  the  Rome  level,  except  at  the  summit  it- 
self, by  moving  the  line  northward,  thus,  by  lowering  the  elevation  of  this  level 
throughout,  lessening  the  difficulties  of  the  Seneca  River  crossing,  and  from  a 
point  a  little  west  of  Utica  eastward  to  the  Hudson,  the  Mohawk  River  should 
be  canalized  by  the  erection  of  lo^s  and  movable  dams  at  suitable  points  in  its 
course,  and  the  deepening  and  rectification  of  its  channel. 

From  the  mouth  of  the  Mohawk,  at  Troy,  to  the  deep  water  of  the  Hudson 
River,  below  Coxsackie,  that  river  must  be  improved  by  narrowing  and  deepen- 
ing its  channel,  or  a  canal  must  be  constructed  along  its  shore.  The  foi  mer 
method  of  construction  affords,  in  my  judgment,  the  simplest  and  most  useful 
means  of  securing  the  desired  result. 

The  plan  may,  therefore,  be  summarized  as  the  widening,  deepening,  and  nec- 
essary rectification  of  the  worst  curvatures  of  the  present  canal,  from  Buffalo  to 
Newark,  about  130  miles,  the  construction  of  a  new  canal  from  Newark  to  Utica, 
about  1x5  miles,  the  canalization  of  of  the  Mohawk  River  from  Utica  to  Troy, 
about  100  miles,  and  the  improvement  of  the  Hudson  River  from  Troy  to  Four- 
Mile  Point,  in  Coxsackie,  a  distance  of  about  30  miles. 

The  elevation  of  the  western  level  of  the  canal  being  governed  by  the  surface 
of  Lake  Erie,  must  secure  the  required  depth  wholly  by  deepening,  while  the 
profiles  of  the  levels  from  Lockport  east  can  be  adjusted  to  meet  the  economical 
requirements  that  will  be  disclosed  by  detailed  surveys. 

The  first  level  from  Buffalo  to  Lockport  will  be  32  miles  long.  Descending 
from  this  level  at  Lockport,  by  two  locks,  each  of  about  25  feet  lift,  the  second 
level  of  the  canal  will  be  reached.  This  level,  64  miles  in  length,  will  extend 
to  Brighton,  where,  descending  by  two  locks  of  about  24  feet  lift,  we  reach 
the  third  level  of  the  canal,  extending  from  Brighton  to  Macedon,  20  miles, 
there  descending  by  a  lock  of  about  20  feet  lift,  we  reach  the  fourth  level  ex- 
tending from  Macedon  to  Newark,  12  miles,  where,  by  a  lock  of  about  20  feet  lift, 
is  reached  the  level  of  the  proposed  new  canal,  to  extend  from  Newark  to  Utica, 
about  115  miles,  which  will  be  the  fifth  and  longest  level  of  the  new  canal.  From 
that  point  the  Mohawk  River  (except  at  Little  Falls  and  Cohoes,  where  combined 
locks  will  be  required)  can  best  be  canalized  through  locks  of  10  or  12  feet  lift, 
making  pools  having  an  average  length  of  about  5  miles  each. 

The  construction  of  this  great  artificial  river,  more  than  300  miles  long,  in- 
volving as  it  does  so  vast  a  structure,  which  must  be  built  in  a  manner  to  attain 
absolute  security  and  permanence,  the  acquisition  of  large  areas  of  land,  the 
maintenance  of  the  drainage  of  the  country  it  traverses,  and  the  erection  of  swing 
bridges  at  all  necessary  crossings,  is  a  vast  enterprise,  both  in  engineering  and 
in  finance.  It  is  a  problem,  however,  that  cannot  be  accurately  stated  even, 
either  in  a  financial  or  in  an  engineering  sense,  until  detailed  surveys  furnish 
data  for  detailed  plans  and  estimates,  and  until  a  careful  compilation  of  industrial 
statistics  furnish  the  means  of  judging  the  volume  of  tonnage  it  will  probably 
command.   Judged  by  the  cost  of  similar  undertakings  and  what  is  already 


SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER.  45 


known  of  this  route,  its  cost  may  be  roughly  assumed  at  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  dollars,  and  from  the  commercial 
statistics  at  hand  its  probable  tonnage  may  be  placed  at  twenty  to  twenty-five 
millions  tons  per  annum. 

The  first  requisite  to  the  possible  inauguration  of  this  enterprise  is,  of  course, 
a  careful  system  of  surveys  that  will  determine  its  probable  cost,  and  whether  it 
be  undertaken  by  private  enterprise,  as  most  of  the  great  artificial  transporta- 
tion lines  of  the  world  have  been,  by  the  aid  of  the  National  Government,  or  by 
the  State  itself,  every  consideration  of  State  interest  and  State  pride  requires 
that  it  should  remain  forever  under  the  sovereign  control  of  the  Empire  State, 
and  she  should,  without  delay,  cause  the  necessary  surveys  and  estimates  to  be 
made  for  determining  all  the  elements  of  this  problem. 

Let  us  consider  the  importance  of  this  water  way.  For  the  past  four  years  the 
average  grain  rates  from  Chicago  to  New  York  during  the  season  of  narigation 
have  been  by  rail  14.9  cents,  by  lake  to  Buffalo  and  thence  by  rail  to  New  York, 
12.1  cents,  and  by  lake  and  canal  to  New  York,  9.9  cents  per  bushel. 

The  large  propellers  of  the  lakes  have,  however,  during  this  period,  found  a 
profit  in  carrying  grain  from  Chicago  to  Buffalo  at  2  cents  a  bushel,  while  the 
cost  by  canal  from  Buffalo  to  New  York,  though  the  distance  is  only  half  as 
great,  without  tolls,  but  including  the  cost  of  transfer,  has,  at  the  same  time, 
been  more  than  4  cents  per  bushel,  more  than  twice  the  cost,  and  more  than  twice 
the  time  in  transit  for  one-half  the  distance. 

In  the  enlarged  canal,  making  due  allowance  for  reduced  speed  in  the  narrow 
channel  and  for  lock  detentions,  the  propeller  would  make  the  trip  from  Buffalo 
to  New  York  in  as  short  a  time  as  she  requires  between  Chicago  and  Buffalo, 
and  thus  deliver  her  cargo  from  Chicago  to  New  York  in  less  time  and  at  less 
cost  than  can  now  be  done  by  canal  from  Buffalo  to  New  York.  Such  a  realiza- 
tion would  establish  the  commerce  of  New  York  on  an  enduring  basis,  never  to 
be  shaken  by  any  development  of  trade,  or  combination  of  circumstances,  that 
now  seem  possible. 

All  the  great  railway  systems  of  the  West,  north  of  Arkansas  and  Texas,  ter- 
minate at  lake  ports,  and  their  prosperity  and  very  existence  depend  on  the  di- 
version of  all  the  business  they  can  control  to  these  ports,  and  with  this  canal 
enlarged,  all  the  heavy  freights  that  reach  those  ports,  bound  east,  are  destined 
by  the  laws  of  trade  to  take  the  water  route,  as  being  cheaper  than  any  rail 
transit  yet  dreamed  of. 

Within  tft.e  network  of  these  railway  lines,  or  grouped  about  the  Great  Lakes 
themselves,  lay  the  great  grain  fields  of  the  country,  its  principal  forests  and 
mines,  as  well  as  the  chief  part  of  its  inland  cities. 

They  must  all  become  tributary  to  this  canal  if  enlarged,  and  o#er  in  commod- 
ities suited  to  canal  transportation  a  larger  volume  of  tonnage  than  the  world 
has  ever  seen  concentrated  on  an  artificial  line  of  transportation. 

The  importance  of  this  enterprise  increases  with  the  rapid  growth  of  our  pop- 
ulation and  the  consequent  changing  social  and  economic  conditions  of  the 
country.  Our  productive  capacity  is  beginning  to  exceed  the  demand.  Our 
foreign  grain  markets  are  threatened  with  new  competition  from  India  and 
Australia. 

If  our  national  prosperity  is  to  continue,  we  must  reach  foreign  markets  with 
our  manufactures,  and  thus,  by  increasing  the  manufacturing  class,  create  new 
home  demands  for  our  surplus  food. 

To  reach  these  markets  we  must  cheapen  the  goods  by  lessening  the  cost  of 
living  to  the  operatives,  and  also  the  cost  of  bringing  together  the  raw  materials 
requisite  to  manufacturing  processes,  and  of  sending  the  manufactured  pro 
to  market. 

With  our  wide-spread  territory,  cheap  transportation  is  the  chief  agency  in 
effecting  these  economies,  and  the  Erie  Canal,  joining  the  granaries,  the  mines, 
and  the  forests  of  the  West  with  the  manufactories  of  the  East,  should  be 
dowed  with  the  necessary  capacity  to  effectually  realize  the  ideal  of  the  political 
economist  as  to  transportation. 

I  have  thus  crudely  presented  the  salient  feature  of  this  problem  to  my  pro- 
fessional brethren,  in  the  belief  that  it  must  soon  become  an  urgent  >ngin<  ering 
question,  and  trusting  that  they  will  give  it  thorough  consideration  and  aid  in 
giving  it  intelligent  form,  and,  if  found  worthy,  in  commending  it  to  popular 
appreciation. 


46      SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER. 


Table  I. — Floating  equipment  on  the  Great  Lakes,  1886. 
[From  the  U.  S.  Census,  1890.] 


Classification  of  vessels. 

Number 

of 
vessels. 

Net  ton- 
nage of 
vessels. 

Valuation 
of  vessels. 

1,997 

634, 652 

$30, 597, 450 

A— Structure: 

43 

14  150 

Propollers  under  1,000  tons  

335 

177' 402 

9, 475. 100 

Propellers  between  1,000  and  1,500  tons  

72 

86, 728 

5,  935, 000 

Propellers  over  1,500  tons  

21 

34, 868 

2,645,000 

Tugs.  „  

466 

11,737 

2,  497,  600 

Schooners  

730 

183,792 

5, 398, 850 

Barges  

330 

125, 975 

3, 151, 400 

B — Material: 

Steel  

6 

6,  459 

694,000 

Iron.  

35 

22, 714 

2,  675,  000 

Composite  

2 

63 

39,000 

Wood  

1,954 

605, 416 

27, 189, 450 

C— Sail  or  steam: 

Steam  vessels   

937 

324,885 

22, 047,  200 

Sailing  vessels  

1,060 

309,767 

8,550,250 

Table  II. — Floating  equipment  on  the  Great  Lakes,  1890. 


Classification  of  vessels. 

Number. 

Tonnage. 

Value. 

Increase. 

2,055 

826, 360 

$58, 128, 500 

$27, 531, 050 

A— Structure: 

Side-wheel  steamers  

42 

16,949 

2,209,500 

715,000 

Propellers  under  1,000  tons  

431 

154, 232 

13, 905, 600 

4, 430, 500 

Propellers  between  1,000  and  1,500  tons  

122 

151,611 

11,804, 000 

5, 869, 000 

Propellers  over  1,500  tons  

110 

188, 390 

17,737,000 

15,092,000 

448 

12, 520 

2,778,250 

280,  650 

Schooners  

577 

158, 620 

4,726,150 

Barges  

325 

144, 038 

4, 968, 000 

1,816,000 

B — Material: 

Steel  

68 

99, 457 

11, 964, 500 

11,270,500 

Iron  

89 

24,673 

2, 63S.  000 

Composite  

13 

13, 554 

1,465,000 

1, 426, 000 

Wood  

1,935 

688, 676 

42,061,000 

14,871,550 

C— Sail  or  steam: 

1,153 

523, 702 

48, 434, 350 

26, 387, 150 

902 

302,658 

9, 694, 150 

1, 143, 900 

SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER.  47 


Table  III.— Quantities  of  grain,  flour,  and  meal  received  at  tJie  ports  named  below 
each  year  from  1883  to  1890,  inclusive. 

[From  annual  reports  of  New  York  Produce  Exchange.] 


Ports. 

1883. 

1884. 

1885. 

1886. 

New  York: 

Ti \r  r»OTi*ll     Trio  vivpi* 

Coastwise  and  river  _  

Bushels. 
41  220.  908 
3. 725, 238 
79,  390,091 

Bushels. 
37, 925.  257 
2,  417,  962 
75, 076,  847 

Bushels. 

on  nan  xQ7 
6v,  you,  Dot 

3, 738,  304 

92, 968,  540 

Bushels. 

44,  U.1t>. 

2, 132.  370 
84, 741,  170 

By  rail  

Total  New  York  

Portland,  Me  

Boston  

124,  336, 237 
3, 200, 506 
37, 527.  022 
22,  333,  384 
35, 847,124 

AO,  OI  O,  ~OU 

115,  420. 066 
7,934.  194 
34,  520.  298 
20,  339,  131 
33,  119,610 
12  Q81  300 

126,  637.  431 
6. 363,916 
31,166,368 
23, 189, 449 
34, 299,861 

11    30n  01? 

130,910, 062 
5, 867,  150 
35, 7(59. 884 
21.  314;  992 
38. 772,  444 

19  tOO  ow-j 

Philadelphia  

Baltimore  

New  Orleane  

Total  United  States,  Atlantic  ports 
Montreal,  Canads  

241,617,503 

224, 314, 599 

233, 162, 038a 

245.  433.815 

18, 096, 455 

17, 554, 523 

15,814, 616 

21,098,  527 

Ports. 

1887. 

1888. 

1889. 

1890. 

New  York: 

By  canal  via  river 

Bushels. 
46  011  000 
1,'414^  708 
80, 075, 096 

Bushels. 
34,921  275 
S,  474, 619 
68, 556, 476 

Bushels. 
33  995, 895 
2, 436,'  407 
76,118,054 

Bushels. 
30  185  400 
1, 609)551 
90,218.719 

Coastwise  and  river  

By  rail  

Total  New  York  

Portland,  Me  

127, 500, 804 
6, 398, 824 
31,921,497 
25, 038,  809 
39, 252.  205 
16, 853, 936 

106, 052, 370 
5,  999, 878 

29,  401,549 
17, 158.  523 

30,  275, 840 
12, 030, 865 

112,550,356 
8, 069.  901 
30, 189.  053 
18, 460, 942 
42, 349, 047 
20,812,159 

122, 013,670 
6,  649,  636 
30,815.  742 
35, 214, 826 
46,435, 135 
21,575,442 

Boston  

Philadelphia  

Baltimore  

New  Orleans  

Total  United  States,  Atlantic  ports  . . 
Montreal,  Canada  

 #L 

246,966, 075 

200, 919, 025 

232, 431,458 

262, 704, 451 

19,891,891 

14, 018, 520 

17, 659, 337 

17, 444, 966 

Note.— Receipts  at  New  York,  Portland,  Boston,  Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore  include  ship- 
ments from  the  West  to  foreign  countries  through  these  ports  on  through  bills  of  lading.  Re- 
ceipts at  Portland  via  Montreal  are  duplications  of  receipts  reported  at  Montreal.  Receipts  at 
Baltimore  include  flour  ground  by  city  millers  (526,191  barrels  in  1890)  and  exported.  Receipts 
at  New  Orleans  do  not  include  shipments  of  oats  and  corn  through  that  port  to  foreign  coun- 
tries on  through  bills  of  lading. 

Grain  embraces  flour  as  wheat,  corn,  rye,  oats,  barley,  malt,  and  pease. 


Table  IV. — Receipts  by  all  routes  at  New  York  for  the  year  1890. 


Various. 

Total  rail. 

River  and 
coast. 

Canal. 

Total 
water. 

Total  rail 
and  water. 

Flour  barrels.. 

142,053 

246 
2,358 

5,475,338 
179, 833 
461,149 

160,046 
4, 120 
13, 212 

160, 046 
4, 120 
13,212 

5, 635, 384 
183, 953 
494, 361 

Meal  do  

Meal  .sacks.. 

Wheat  bushels.. 

Corn  do  

Oats  do  

Burley  do  

Kye  do  

Malt  do.... 

Peas  do  

Total  grain  

Flour  bushels.. 

20,375 
420,  400 
150, 200 
10, 450 
19.  056 
15, 166 
53,150 

6,  366, 925 
17, 913, 400 
32, 180, 200 
2, 183,  800 
534,  477 
4, 164, 166 
595, 100 

151,332 
75, 866 
7, 100 
424,140 
66,716 
121,272 
14 

9, 276,  600 
16, 272, 200 
1,556.  700 
1,687,700 
627,200 
741, 100 
23,900 

9,  427.  932 
16,  348, 066 
1,563,800 
2,111.840 
693.  916 
762.  372 
23,914 

15.  794.  857 
34.261,466 
33, 744, 000 
4, 295.  640 
1,228,393 
5,026  589 
619,014 

688.  797 
639.  239 
5,700 

63, 938,  068 
24, 639,020 
1,641,630 

816,  440 
720,207 
42,904 

30, 185, 400 

31,031,840 
720,207 
42. 904 

94,989,908 
25,  359,  227 
1.68-1.534 

Grand  total  

Per  cent  

1,  333,  736 
1.09 

90,218, 718 
73.94 

1,609,551 
1.32 

30, 185,  400 
24.74 

31.794,951  122,013,669 
26.06  |  100 

48      SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER. 

Table  V.— Official  annual  statement  of  lake  and  canal  rates,  Buffalo,  December  4, 

1890. 


Date. 

Wheat. 

Corn. 

Lake  rates 
per  bushel, 

from 
Chicago  to 
Buffalo. 

Canal  rates 
per  bushel, 

from 
Buffalo  to 
New  York. 

Lake  rates 
per  bushel, 

from 
Chicago  to 
Buffalo. 

Canal  rates 
per  bushel, 

from 
Buffalo  to 
New  York. 

May  31  

CenU. 
1.69 
2.20 
2.26 
1.50 
1.88 
1.98 
2. 16 

Cents. 
3. 98 
3.75 
3.63 
3.92 
3. 93 
4.02 
3.86 

Cents. 
1.41 
1.91 
1.25 
1.25 
1.62 
1.72 
1.97 

Cents. 

3.59 
3.35 
3. 13 
3. 43 
3.43 
3.52 
3.30 

June  30  

July  31  

August  31..  

September  30  

October  31...  

November  30  

Average  

1.95 

3. 87 

1.69 

3. 39 

Table  VI. — Statement  of  the  tons  of  property  moved  on  the  Erie  Canal  of  New 

York  for  eleven  years. 


[From  the  report  of  the  superintendent  of  public  works  of  New  York  for  1891.] 


1880    4,608,651 

1881    3,598,721 

1882   3,694,364 

1883    3,587,102 

1884   3,389,555 

1885    3,208,207 


1886    3,308.642 

1887   3,840,513 

1888    3,321,516 

1889    3,673,554 


TONNAGE. 

The  whole  number  of  tons  of  freight  carried  upon  the  canals  of  New  York 
during  the  season  of  navigation  of  1891  was  4,563,472  tons,  and  was  composed  of 
the  following-described  class  of  articles: 

Product  of  the  forest   1, 206, 986 

Agriculture  1,171,192 

Manufactures   109,387 

Merchandise   250, 083 

Other  articles   1, 825, 824 

Total   4,563,472 


Table  VII.— Annual  average  freight  rates  per  bushel  of  wheat  for  transportation 
from  Chicago  to  New  York  for  each  year  from  1857  to  1890,  inclxisive. 

[Prepared  by  Mr.  J.  C.  Brown,  statistician  New  York  Produce  Exchange.! 


Calendar  year. 

Average  rates  per  bushel. 

Calendar  year. 

Average  rates  per  bushel. 

By  lake 

and 
canal,  a 

By  lake 
and  rail. 

By  all 
rail. 

By  lake 

and 
canal,  a 

By  lake 
and  rail. 

By  all 
rail. 

Cents. 

Cents. 

Cents. 

Cents. 

Cents. 

Cents. 

1857  

25. 29 

1874   

14. 10 

16.9 

28.7 

1858  

16. 28 

1875  

11.43 

14.6 

24.1 

lHrO  

17.59 

1876   

9.58 

11.8 

16.5 

I860..  

24.83 

1877  

11.24 

15.8 

20.3 

18G1  

26.  55 

1878   

9.15 

11.4 

17.7 

1862  

26.  33 

1879  

11.60 

13.3 

17.3 

1863.  

22.  91 

1880  

12.27 

15.7 

19.9 

1864  

28.36 

1881  

8. 19 

10.4 

14.4 

1865.  

26.  62 

1882  

7.  89 

10.9 

14.6 

1866  

29.61 

1883   

8.  37 

11.5 

16.5 

1867  

22.  36 

1884   

6.  31 

9.55 

13.125 

1868  

22.79 

29.0 

42.6 

1885   

5.  87 

9.  02 

14.00 

1869  

25. 12 

25.0 

35.1 

1886  

8. 71 

12.00 

16.50 

1870  

17. 10 

22.0 

33.3 

1887   

8.51 

12.  00 

616.  33 

1871  

20.24 

25.0 

31.0 

1888   

5.  93 

11.00 

614.50 

24.47 

28.0 

33.5 

1889  

6.  89 

68.70 

15.00 

1873  

19.19 

26.9 

33.2 

1890  

5.85 

8.50 

14.31 

alncluding  canal  tolls  until  1882,  but  not  Buffalo  transfer  charge*. 
(Averages  of  officially  published  tariffs. 


I  SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER.  40 

Table  VIII.— Annual  average  canal  freight  rates  on  wheat  and  tlie  tolls  on  wlieat 
from  Buffalo  to  New  York,  and  the  elevating  and  storage  rates  at  Buffalo  for 
each  year  from  1870  to  1890,  inclusive. 


[Prepared  by  Mr.  William  Thurstone,  secretary  of  the  Buffalo  Merchants'  Exchange.] 


Year 

Average 
canal 

freight 
rat  es. 

Tolls. 

Elevating, 
including 
storage,  a 

Year. 

Average 
canal 
freight 
rates. 

Tolls. 

Elevating, 
including 
storage,  a 

1870  

Cents. 
11.2 
12.6 
13 

11.4 

10 
7.9 
6.6 
4.4 
6 

6.8 
6.5 

Cents. 
3.1 
3.1 
3.1 
3.1 
3.1 
2 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 

Cents. 
1.25 
1.25 
1.25 
1.25 
1.25 
2 
2 
1 
1 

1881  

Cent  s. 
4.7 
5.4 
4.9 
4.2 
3.8 
5 

4.5 
3.4 
4.8 
3.8 

Cents. 
1 
1 

Cents. 
.875 
.875 
.875 
.875 
.875 
.875 
.875 
.875 
.875 
.875 
.875 

1871  

i  1883  

1873  

1884  

1874..  

1885   

1886   

1876..  

1887   

1877  

18*8  

1878  

1889  

1879  

1890  

1880  

a  Storage  varied;  five  to  ten  days  the  limit. 


Table  IX. — Freight  charges  per  ton  per  mile  on  the  following  trunk  railroads  of  the 
United  States  and  on  the  New  York  State  canals,  from  1870  to  1889,  inclusive. 


Railroads  and  canals. 


1870. 


1871. 


1873. 


1874. 


1875. 


1876. 


1877. 


1878. 


1879. 


New  York  Central  a  

Pennsylvania  b  

New  York,  Lake  Erie  and 

Western  a  

Boston  and  Albany  a  

Philadelphia  and  Erie  b  

Lake  Shore  and  Michigan 

Southern  b  ...^  

Michigan  Central  b  

Chicago.    Burlington  and 

Quincyft   

Chicago  and  Northwestern c. 
Chicago.  Milwaukee  and  St. 

Paul  6  

St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain 

and  Southern  b  

Chicago,  Rock  Island  and 

Pacified  

Illinois  Central  b  

Chicago  and  Alton  &  

Pittsburg.  Fort  Wayne  and 

Chicago  b__  

Chesapeake  and  Ohio  

Maine  Central  

Mobile  and  Ohio  


Average  on  railroads.. 
New  York  State  canals. 


Cts. 
1.884 
1.549 

1.333 
2. 193 
1.303 

1.504 
1.982 


2.  82 


Cts. 
1.649 
1.389 

1.435 

2.09 

1.205 

1.391 
1.747 

2.2 
2. 869 

2.54 


Cts. 
1.593 
1.416 

1.526 
2.  016 
1.192 

1.374 
1.867 

2. 076 
2. 614 

2.43 


Cts. 
1.573 
1.415 

1.454 
1.958 
1.135 

1,335 
1.891 

1.921 
2.351 

2.50 


2.  64 


2.  49 
2. 16 


2.29 
2.20 


Cts. 
1.462 
1.255 

1.312 
1.818 
.977 

1.18 


1.901 

2.  226 

2.38 

2.63 

2.07 
2.09 
2. 124 

1.26 


Cts. 
1.275 
1.058 

1.209 
1.533 
.865 

1.01 
1.398 

1.889 
1.946 

2. 10 

2.20 

1.92 
1.93 
1.879 

1.10 


Cts. 
1.051 


1.099 
1.288 
.776 

.817 
1.115 


2.04 

2.05 

1.91 
1.80 
1.626 


.93 


Cts. 
1.014 
.980 

.955 
1.208 
.786 

.804 
.878 

1.428 
1.702 

2.08 

1.98 

1.71 

1.82 
1.447 

1.01 


Cts. 
.914 
.918 

.973 
1.  129 
.628 

.734 
.848 

1.247 
1 . 72 1 


1.92 

1.56 
1.64 

1.298 


3.32 
2.29 


2.005 
.835 


1.923 
1.027 


1.896 
1.016 


.803 
,887 


1.750 
7.43 


1.554 


1.386 


1.320 
.561 


I.  401 
.42 


Cts. 
.80 
.796 

.78 
1.11 

.512 

.642 


1.023 
1.56 

1.72 

1.88 

1.43 
1.52 
1.054 

.76 
.858 
2.87 
2.48 


1.249 
.46 


a  Year  ending  September  30. 
b  Year  ending  December  31. 

H.  Eep.  U13  4 


c  Year  ending  Maj  31. 
d  Year  ending  Mur&k  ?;. 


50      SHIP  CANAL  FROM  THE  GREAT  LAKES  TO  HUDSON  RIVER. 


Table  IX. — Freight  charges  per  ton  per  mile  on  the  following  trunk  railroads  of  the 
United  States,  etc.— Continued. 


Railroads  and  canals. 

1880. 

1881. 

1882. 

1883. 

1884. 

1885. 

1886. 

1887. 

1888. 

1889. 

Cts 

Cts. 

Cts. 

Cts. 

Cts. 

Cts. 

Cts. 

Cts. 

Cts. 

Cts. 

New  York  Central  a. 

.88 

.78 

.73 

.91 

.83 

.68 

.76 

.78 

.77 

.76 

Pennsylvania  b  

.88 

.799 

.817 

.819 

.740 

:$3 

.755 

.73 

!634 

.  686 

New  York,  Lake  Erie  and 

Western  a  

.84 

.8050 

.749 

.780 

.685 

.628 

.636 

.662 

.669 

.649 

Boston  and  Albany  a 

1.20 

1.04 

1.07 

1. 19 

1.09 

.94 

1. 10 

1. 17 

1.08 

1.  02 

Philadelphia  and  Erie  6 

.56 

.55 

.62 

.62 

.58 

.50 

.52 

.54 

.519 

.52 

Lake  Shore  and  Michigan 

Southern  b  .  

.75 

.62 

.63 

.728 

.652 

.55 

.639 

.67 

.636 

.664 

Michigan  Central  b  

.842 

.718 

.77 

.83 

.65 

.56 

.686 

.694 

.694 

.728 

Chicago,    Burlington  and 

Quincy  6  

(c) 

(c) 

(c) 

(c) 

(c) 

(«) 

(C) 

«0 

(c) 

(c) 

Chicago  and  Northwestern  d 

1. 49 

1. 47 

1. 42 

1. 42 

1. 31 

1. 19 

1. 19 

1. 10 

1. 02 

1. 03 

Chicago,  Milwaukee  and  St. 

Paul&   

1.76 

1.70 

1.48 

1.39 

1.29 

1.28 

1.17 

1.09 

1.01 

1.06 

St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain 

and  Southern  ft  .».  

2.08 

1.76 

1.50 

1.66 

1.47 

1.41 

1.30 

1.26 

1.22 

1. 12 

Chicago,  Rock  Island  and 

1.21 

1.22 

1.28 

1.17 

1.10 

1.40 

1.07 

1.01 

.93 

.97 

Illinois  Central  b  

1.54 

1.52 

1.42 

1.43 

1.37 

1.31 

1.16 

1.09 

.95 

1.03 

Chicago  and  Alton  b  

1.206 

1.24 

1.26 

1.13 

1.01 

1.01 

.96 

.95 

.92 

.92 

Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and 

Chicago  b.  

.92 

.74 

.75 

.79 

.67 

.58 

.69 

.71 

.66 

.69 

Chesapeake  and  Ohio  

.869 

.891 

.793 

.723 

.672 

.548 

.541 

.536 

(d) 

(d) 

Maine  Central  

2.74 

2. 74 

2.75 

2.42 

.239 

2. 46 

2. 17 

2.  33 

2.10 

2.03 

Mobile  and  Ohio  

2.20 

2. 06 

2. 15 

2.28 

1.97 

1.70 

1.51 

1.32 

1.01 

.96 

Average  on  railroads.. 

1.292 

1.215 

1.188 

1.888 

1.087 

1.028 

.992 

.974 

.926 

.928 

New  York  State  canals 

.49 

.38 

.42 

(/) 

(/) 

(/) 

(/) 

(/) 

(/) 

(/) 

a  Year  ending  September  30.        cNo  data.  e  Year  ending  March  31. 

b  Year  ending  December  31.         d  Year  ending  May  31.        /  Tolls  abolished. 


Table  X.—  Annual  average  through  freight  rates  on  grain,  flour  and  provisions  [per 
100  pounds)  from  Chicago  to  European  ports,  by  all  rail  to  seaboard  and  thence  by 
steamers,  from  1880  to  1890. 


[Prepared  by  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  Chicago.] 


Shipped  to— 

Articles. 

1880. 

1881. 

1883. 

1884. 

1885. 

1886. 

1887. 

1888. 

1889. 

1890. 

Dolls. 

Bolls. 

Bolls. 

Bolls. 

Bolls. 

Dolls. 

Bolls. 

Bolls. 

Bolls. 

Bolls. 

Liverpool... 

Grain  

.  4922 

.3718 

.3647 

Am 

.2943 

.3672 

.3487 

.3490 

.  3958 

.3187 

Do  

Sacked  flour 

.5433 

.3499 

.4030 

.2982 

.2887 

.3420 

.3491 

.3371 

.4162 

.3625 

Do  

Provisions.. 

.6871 

.4670 

.5183 

.4674 

.3508 

.4415 

.4073 

.3747 

.5746 

.5109 

Glasgow  

Do  

Grain  

.3932 

.2641 

.3228 

.3910 

.3705 

.3605 

.4075 

.3550 

Sacked  flour 

.5651 

.4400 

.2811 

.3443 
.4086 

.3951 

.3968 

.3579 

.4425 

.4188 

Do  

Provisions.. 

.6732 

.5361 
.3620 

.4789 

.5329 
.4086 

.  4855 

.4658 

.6142 

.5833 

London  

Grain  

.2783 

.2921 

.  3945 

.3802 

.  3550 

Do  

Sacked  flour 

.4276 

.3825 
.4891 

.3171 
.4046 

.4021 

.3784 

.3776 

.4510 

.4047 

Do 

Provisions 

.5550 

.  5471 

.4781 

.4570 

.6196 

.5813 

Antwerp  

....do  

.7385 

.5708 

.6295 

.5373 

.4327 

.  5219 

.4961 

.4472 

.6094 

.4688 

Hamberg  . . . 

....do  

.5471 

.6279 

.5434 

.3842 
.4383 

.5154 

.5229 

.  5426 

.6262 

.5260 

Amsterdam. 

....do  

.6683 

.5434 

.5562 

.5525 

.5426 

.  6500 

.5000 

Rotterdam.. 

....do  

.6683 

.4354 

.4383 

.5562 

.5508 

.  5426 

.  6500 

.5000 

Copenhagen 

....do  

.7158 

.5434 

.4951 

.  5169 

.  5508 

.  5483 

.  6492 

.5813 

Stockholm.. 

....do  

.  8255 

.5904 

.5468 

.5543 

.5865 

.  6671 

.7500 

.6094 

Stettin  

....do  

.7420 

.5422 

.5210 

.5833 

.5508 

.  5483 

.6492 

.6813 

Bordeaux 

....do  

.6432 

.5603 

.5066 

.5708 

.6021 

.5821 

.7491 

.6650 

oVL  III  f  o       &o<  a 


